It lost defender Patrick Doody and midfielders Jamie Vollmer and Dylan Lax to graduation. Junior midfielder Femi Hollinger-Janzen was on the sidelines but in street clothes. But most noticeably, junior forward Andrew Oliver was not with the team.
To replace its starting forward from last season IU primarily deployed a false nine, meaning a midfielder plays in place of a forward.
One of those players was sophomore Tanner Thompson, the only member of IU’s starting front four from last season who played Friday.
Thompson bent in a free kick from about 25 yards out for IU’s first goal and assisted the game winner from a ?corner kick.
“His sophistication, his cleverness to get him out of trouble, finding his teammates — I thought it was a comprehensive performance from Tanner,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said.
In addition to occupying the false nine position, Thompson played both the left and right wings, underneath the primary attacker and even in the defensive midfield.
Yeagley said it’s Thompson’s intelligence that allows him to be played in those variety of positions. He can move to the wing when play becomes too congested in the middle, allowing him to find gaps in the opposing team’s defense.
He can control the game from the back of the midfield and he can score or make the final pass when he plays further up the field.
“He can move and adjust to whatever we do and the team has to still find him,” Yeagley said. “Clearly where we want to have the ball is Tanner.”
One of the players who was tasked with supplying the ball to Thompson was freshman Austin Panchot. Panchot, who graduated high school a semester early in December, played the last 45 minutes of the match on the right wing.
He was also wearing No. 9, Oliver’s former number.
“He’s not even in college yet and he comes out here against a pro team and left a mark,” Yeagley said. “That’s tough to do for a kid who’s only been here for two months.”
Panchot is listed at 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, but Yeagley said because of his intensity, he plays like he’s 50 pounds heavier.
It’s this intensity combined with Panchot’s work rate and aggressiveness that Yeagley said gives him an opportunity to be a starter as early as next fall.
Another player in line for an increased role next season in Francesco Moore. As a freshman last season, Moore didn’t play a single minute, but not because he wasn’t capable.
“We knew we had something, but because of Dylan Lax being a senior and his veteran role, we decided to hold Frankie back and redshirt him,” Yeagley said.
Moore was one of five midfielders who started Friday in what Yeagley called a 3-4-1 formation. Each team played with nine players because of the field dimensions of Mellencamp Pavilion.
IU alternated sending different midfielders into the false nine role, creating a fluidity Yeagley said is lethal.
“I thought the reading of our teammates and how they vacated and introduced space, the tactical cues to be fluid was really good,” Yeagley said.
The interchangeability of IU’s front four attackers combined with the aggressiveness of its outside backs running along the sidelines creates an unpredictable attack for IU.
If executed properly, its opponent won’t know which player to key on and where the attack is coming from.
“The key is, we have to be predictable for each other and assume the roles, and yet very difficult for the other team to manage and figure out,” Yeagley said.
The onus for operating this attack falls to Thompson, the team’s creative director.
Not only was Thompson directly responsible for both of IU’s goals Friday, but he controlled the game and set up more chances that went unfinished.
“Tanner was the best attacker on the field tonight for either team,” Yeagley said. “Besides the goal and assist, which is obviously what you want, his play in between all those moments was ?phenomenal.”
