By Andrew Vailliencourt
availlie@indiana.edu | @AndrewVcourt
The IU men’s soccer team got the big win they were looking for after shutting out No. 12 Marquette is the final game of the Addias/ IU Credit Union Classic on Sunday.
The win gives the Hoosiers a share of the tournament title, as both IU and No. 1 Notre Dame finished the weekend with a win and a tie, as IU tied with Georgetown on Friday.
The No. 9 Hoyas finished with two draws, and Marquette finished with two losses.
“It’s good for this young team,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “To come out of the weekend with a win and a draw against two top teams when we had a lot of pieces that were uncertain, I feel good. We played well, and I felt we got better on (Sunday) in some areas we didn’t do as well on Friday.”
IU out-shot Marquette 17-9. The Hoosier’s lone goal on Sunday came on a rebound from freshman midfielder Michael Riedford after Tanner Thompson’s initial shot bounced off the Golden Eagles goalie, Charlie Lyon. Thomspon was credited with the assist.
“Rebounds are a big thing that we focus on in practice,” Riedford said. “Tanner looked me off and I knew he was going to shoot it.”
Riedford said the team calls these types of goals sniffers, and Yeagley said after the game that he was really happy with the way his team scored.
“It’s a good sign,” Yeagley said. “We talk all the time about following our finishes and we train it, and I love that we were right on top of that shot.”
IU had four players named to the all-tournament team, including sophomore goalie Colin Webb, junior midfielder Femi Hollinger-Janzen, freshman defender Grant Lillard, and sophomore midfielder Tanner Thompson.
“We were confident heading into the weekend,” Lillard said. “We were playing two great opponents. We knew we could compete, and it’s a great start to the year.”
Sunday’s game was very chippy, and left Marquette unhappy with the officials. A key play in the game was a no call on a sliding tackle inside the box by sophomore defender Derek Creviston on C. Nortey of Marquette in the first half.
The official ruled the play was not a foul and set the stage for a very aggressive second half.
“I think Derek might have gotten a little bit of the ball, I don’t know if I had a good angle on it or not,” Lillard said. “Obviously he made a good play since the ref didn’t make a call.”
On Friday, IU played to a draw with Georgetown with each team scoring once. Hollinger-Janzen scored for the Hoosiers, while Hoya star forward Brandon Allen notched his first goal of the year for Georgetown.
“This has always been a huge weekend for us,” Riedford said. “We’ve been kind of underrated, for me at least, this preseason. So to come out here and show we can compete with good teams, it’s a big step for us.”
