The Hoosiers were in the same position they were a week ago. Up two goals to start the second half against an in-state foe.
Last week, IU surrendered the lead against Butler and the match ended in a draw. This week, IU kept Evansville off the scoreboard in the second half and even added a goal in a 3-0 win at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
“We never lost our confidence,” the sophomore Lillard said. “We still knew we had a great team.”
The win Wednesday also snapped a three match winless streak for the Hoosiers, and was the first time IU shut out its opponent in the same time period.
After surrendering a lead last week at Butler, IU not only kept its opponent scoreless in the second half, but only allowed one shot in the second half in the 52nd minute.
“We made the field small, tried to keep the ball and I thought we managed the game well defensively, we were solid all night,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “I think the communication and just the general edge of the team was heightened.”
There were only a handful of occasions the Evansville offense found itself inside the IU penalty area, and in those few times the ball was cleared out of danger quickly.
Evansville was also never really able to build play through the middle of the field Wednesday night. IU would not allow it.
After a stretch of games where the Hoosiers struggled with individual defending, the amount of times a Hoosier was beat in 1-on-1 situations were scarce.
“We go as a team and we lose as a team but there were just some discipline scenarios that hurt us,” Yeagley said. “If we cut that out we’re in great shape so tonight we were really locked in.”
The Purple Aces were forced down the flanks where they would play crosses in, seemingly more often than not to the head or foot of Lillard or another defender rather than one of their teammates.
Whenever Evansville did try to attack down the center of the field, it was through a ball being sent over the top of the defense in the hopes an attacker would be able to race to the lofted pass before an IU player got there.
But in those instances, the IU defense either won the race or the pass was hit too hard and junior goalkeeper Colin Webb was able to secure the ball before any real scoring threat emerged.
Those were the only instances where Webb was forced into any action at all. Evansville didn’t manage a single shot on goal, so Webb never needed to make a save. In total, the Purple Aces only attempted six shots.
Even when Evansville put four forwards into the match with 10 minutes remaining, the IU defense was never really troubled.
Yeagley said the Hoosiers cruised throughout the second half and just kept the ball. If Evansville can’t gain possession in the IU half of the field, Evansville can’t score.
And whenever a Purple Ace did find himself in possession of the ball in the Hoosier half, he quickly found a Hoosier defender pressuring him for the ball, oftentimes regaining possession for IU.
“We really put it back together tonight and I think we’re going to do that throughout the rest of the year,” Lillard said.
