The No. 8 Hoosiers (8-2-3) and No. 1 Irish (8-3-2) face off Wednesday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
“The Notre Dame versus Indiana match is always big,” IU senior Patrick Doody said. “Wednesday is important for a lot of reasons.”
IU and Notre Dame have played each other every year in the regular season since 2003, but IU hasn’t won since 2009.
IU has lost three times and tied once against Notre Dame since then.
IU did defeat Notre Dame in the 2012 NCAA Championship round of 16 on its way to the national title.
“If we had to pick a rival, I would say it’s them besides a few Big Ten schools,” Doody said.
Both teams have several similarities. In addition to their near-identical records, both teams are close in goals scored and goals allowed. Notre Dame has scored once more than IU but has also allowed an extra goal.
Both sides use their outside backs aggressively going forward, something IU Coach Todd Yeagley said he thinks will be a key factor in the match.
“They’re very aggressive with their outside backs,” Yeagley said. “The communication of our wide backs and wide midfielders is going to be crucial in how to solve their backs flying ?forward.”
Notre Dame senior Luke Mishu has tallied three assists this season from the right back position while sophomore Brandon Aubrey and graduate student Andrew O’Malley have each scored once from central ?defense.
IU senior Patrick Doody has scored two goals this season while tallying three assists from his left back position, sophomore Billy McConnell has tallied two assists from his right back position and freshman Grant Lillard has scored twice from central defense.
Despite their similarities defensively, the teams’ attacks starkly contrast.
IU plays in a 4-2-3-1 formation, meaning junior forward Andrew Oliver plays alone up top while three attacking midfielders alternate in providing support.
Notre Dame plays a 4-4-2, meaning it has two forwards with four midfielders supplying them.
“Their striker pair does a good job of playing within the lines,” Yeagley said. “They play with two, but one plays underneath so our center backs have to be really good in solving that with Lax and Matt.”
Playing within the lines refers to Notre Dame strikers allowing the midfielders to provide service to them and not retreating into the midfield to receive the ball directly from the defense. This allows Notre Dame to maintain a solid shape and keep its spacing consistent throughout the match.
Notre Dame’s leading scorer is junior forward Patrick Hodan, who has scored six times this season in ?addition to two assists.
Those types of numbers would suggest Notre Dame’s attack centers around Hodan. But Hodan has only started five of Notre Dame’s 13 matches this season.
He has come off the bench and played more than 60 minutes in each of Notre Dame’s last six matches.
IU has played against teams with consistent scoring off the bench before.
It has played against teams that are aggressive with their outside backs, and it has played teams of Notre Dame’s quality before.
That’s why the team isn’t intimidated.
“We respect the fact that they’re a good team, they’re well-organized and whatnot,” IU senior Dylan Lax said. “But we feel the same way about ourselves. We’ve played against really good teams already this year, so we’ll be ready.”
