The Hoosiers were on their heels Saturday night against the Wolverines. One of the fastest players in the country was running at them, and the IU defenders were having a hard time staying in front of him.
Freshman forward Francis Atuahene was causing problems, and in the 13th minute he nearly scored. He seemed to be in alone on goal 10 yards from the box. He had dribbled by junior defender Derek Creviston and had a clear look on goal, until Creviston recovered with a slide tackle from behind to take the ball away.
After that, the Hoosiers seemingly adjusted to the speed, and five minutes later scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Michigan at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
“We’re always very confident with our defending and to get a bagel against a team like Michigan with three of the most athletic guys we’ll see all year up top is huge for us,” sophomore defender Grant Lillard said.
Lillard was also the goal scorer for the Hoosiers. Senior midfielder Matt Foldesy collected a corner kick in the center of the box. Instead of trying to shoot around his defender, he passed to senior forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen.
Hollinger-Janzen then played a cross to the other post, where Lillard was waiting to head the ball into the back of the net.
“I knew Femi was going to look to go back post with it, so I just tried to get in front of the guy’s shoulder and ended up in the right spot at the right time,” Lillard said.
The goal was Lillard’s fourth of the year and was also Hollinger-Janzen’s fourth assist.
But with the way Michigan was attacking, the Hoosiers had opportunities for more. Oftentimes, IU attackers found themselves running at retreating defenders in the second half, but could not net a second goal.
“It was a weird night offensively for us because it was a bit Jekyll and Hyde,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “I thought there were some great moments and some we complicated that should have been a lot easier, and we just missed a couple passes.”
In total, IU had 18 shots with eight going on target, compared to nine total shots with two on target for Michigan.
The Hoosiers haven’t been given much space to operate offensively this year, and may have attacked because that’s what they are used to doing when they have the opportunity, Yeagley said.
“We had a lot of good looks,” Yeagley said. “We had a lot of really good chances that we could have done better with.”
Though IU might have squandered opportunities going forward, it forced Michigan to do the same.
Outside of the opening stages, the IU defense shut down the second most potent offense in the Big Ten, and a team with the type of pace that has given the Hoosiers problems earlier in the season.
But that’s what the Hoosiers were expecting.
“We expect a clean sheet every single game, so we’re just happy we got one,” Lillard said.
