In a press conference March 4, No. 23 IU men’s soccer head coach Todd Yeagley said his biggest disappointment from the loss against Northwestern was a failure to convert on corner kicks.
IU took that criticism to heart against Wisconsin on Thursday, scoring three times on corner kicks on the way to a 4-0 victory in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Hoosiers scored a season high in goals, surpassing their two 3-0 victories to start the season, including their victory over Wisconsin on Feb. 19.
Sophomore defender Brett Bebej scored twice off corner kicks, both of which were assisted by senior defender Spencer Glass. Bebej’s goals were the first two of his career.
Bebej played midfield Thursday despite being a natural defender with junior Nyk Sessock back in the lineup. He found himself playing an important role in the game, helping to create chances for IU on the restart.
Although Wisconsin had six shots on goal to IU’s five, sophomore goalkeeper Roman Celentano made all six saves to keep the clean sheet. It was Celentano’s third shutout of the season and the 11th of his career.
Celentano stopped Wisconsin’s best chance of the game shortly before the end of the first half with a diving save on a Wisconsin shot that came off a two-on-one chance.
IU’s first chance on goal came in the 22nd minute after it got a corner attempt. The cross from the corner found its way to the front post, then bounced around until finding the back of the net, but IU was ruled offside and the goal was not counted.
Just four minutes later, on a corner that looked eerily similar, Bebej’s shot found the goal to put IU up 1-0 on an assist from Glass.
The Hoosiers dominated in first half scoring chances. They outshot the Badgers 6-3 in the first half, and although they only had one more shot on goal, created several more chances.
In the second half, IU continued the trend, but the effort didn’t show up in the scoresheet.
Wisconsin outshot IU 9-6, including 5-3 in shots on goal, but didn’t create any true chances while IU added three goals.
It took less than two minutes for IU to add to its lead in the second half. Sophomore forward Herb Endeley scored his first goal of the season, beating the keeper and slotting the ball into the net.
Later on in the second half, Glass found Bebej at the far post for Bebej’s second goal of the game.
The fourth goal came off a corner from junior midfielder Joe Schmidt. The corner hit the crossbar before falling to freshman defender Joey Maher, who headed the ball in for his first career goal.
The victory put the Hoosiers at 3-1 on the season. IU returns home for the first time this year Monday when to take on Michigan State at 2 p.m in Armstrong Stadium.
