As the lights went out, and the fireworks started shooting off on Friday night, the IU men’s soccer team gathered in the center of Jerry Yeagly field seemingly pleased after coming to a draw with No. 9 Georgetown, 1-1.
Georgetown, a team IU Coach Todd Yeagley called one of the best tempo and possession teams in the country, tallied 14 shots to the Hoosier’s 9, but was only able to put one behind IU’s sophomore goalie, Colin Webb, who made four saves.
“We knew we’d be under some pressure tonight,” Yeagley said. “We knew we’d have to absorb a little bit, and drop our pressure line, so it’d be tougher for them to play through us, and I thought we did that intelligently.”
IU scored its lone goal in the 26th minute on a rebound after a shot was knocked around by Georgetown goalie Tomas Gomez and several other players, but bounced out to junior Femi Hollinger-Janzen who softly tapped it in for the midfielder’s first goal of the year.
A few minutes later, junior forward Andrew Oliver had a breakaway, but sailed his shot just over the crossbar.
“We needed to convert the chance we got with Andrew,” Yeagley said. “That changes the game at that point.”
Possession was fairly split in the first half, with each team having several scoring chances, with the Hoyas best chance coming early in the half when a shot was dropped by Webb and was almost sat on, before scooping up the loose ball.
“I thought the first 20 we played really well,” IU senior defender Patrick Doody said. “They started really taking it to us when we scored. I thought the second half was pretty spilt, they probably had it better in the first 20 or so, and then I thought we finished regulation really strong.”
In the 58th minute, Georgetown star junior forward Brandon Allen scored on a shot that was assisted by sophomore Alex Muyl. It came up suddenly, and Webb was unable to make the diving save.
“They’re a very good team,” Doody said. “They’re very organized. That’s one of the most talented and balanced teams I’ve ever played and this is my fourth year here.”
IU played five of its ten freshmen, who Yeagley said could’ve used more composure, but overall made him very happy with how they performed. Their play has also caught the eye of the veterans on the squad.
“I was so impressed,” Doody said. “I remember when I was a freshman, and I opened up at Notre Dame and I was so out of control.”
One of those freshman was 6-4 defender Grant Lillard, who started at center back. Sophomore midfielder Tanner Thompson called Lillard a total animal and had a similar impression on Doody.
“Grant’s awesome,” he said. “He’s a big time player and is going to have an awesome career. He gives us a sense of calmness. He’s a special, special guy.”
The Hoosiers (0-0-1) will face off on Sunday against No. 12 Marquette with kickoff slated for 2 p.m. The Golden Eagles lost to No. 1 Notre Dame in their first match today.
“We were looking to get the win, but a draw ended up not being a bad result,” Thompson said. “Georgetown is a good team, and hopefully Sunday we will be coming out for the win.”
