No. 1 ranked IU men’s soccer lost to Creighton University 3-0 Friday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium in its first game of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. The Hooisers moved to 2-1-0 with the loss.
This was IU’s first regular-season loss at home since a 1-0 overtime loss to Ohio State on Oct. 10, 2015.
“They wanted the game really bad and they played hard,” IU head coach Todd Yeagley said after the match. “Give them credit that they played a fantastic game.”
The Hoosiers have given up five goals in three games this season, compared to just six goals in 16 games last season.
“I can’t put my finger on it right now,” Yeagley said. “If I had the answer, we’d be giving up less goals.”
IU went into the halftime break down 2-0 despite putting up six shots, including three on goal. The Hoosiers also had seven corner kicks in the first half compared to the Bluejays’ zero. Despite their chances, they weren’t able to find the back of the net.
“It was one of those nights nothing could happen,” Yeagley said about the team’s scoring opportunities. “We got a couple of restarts, maybe a couple second chances, but other than that it was a pretty uninspiring attacking performance.”
Three different Bluejays scored against the Hoosiers. Senior forward Diego Gutierrez opened the scoring just a minute into the game and senior midfielder Charles Auguste scored another near the end of the first half.
Creighton junior midfielder Dominic Briggs sealed the deal for the Bluejays in the 79th minute, putting them up 3-0. IU senior midfielder Joe Schmidt deflected Briggs’ shot, but that sent it into the bottom right corner past the outstretched leg of junior goalkeeper Roman Celentano.
“They outplayed us in every capacity — a lot to learn from,” Yeagley said.
Creighton entered the match 0-2-0, losing its first two matches by a combined margin of 6-1.
IU’s Schmidt made his return to the starting lineup after missing the team’s last game, and junior forward Ryan Wittenbrink made his first appearance this season off the bench, returning from an injury.
MAC Hermann Trophy runner-up Victor Bezerra was out for his second game since he went down with a leg injury in the team’s opener against Notre Dame. Yeagley said he hoped Bezerra would be back for IU’s upcoming match against Xavier on Monday, and he wasn’t back tonight because his star forward hasn’t been making the progress he’d like to see. Yeagley said his status is still game to game.
Creighton finished with a 18-7 shot advantage with six shots on goal to IU’s four. IU had 12 corners to Creighton’s five, and the Bluejays committed 18 fouls compared to the Hoosiers’ 12.
“It’s in the past, it’s just disheartening,” Yeagley said. “That was not an IU performance. That’s unacceptable, so hopefully they’ll learn a real tough lesson.”
IU will return at 8 p.m. Monday to take on Xavier University for its second game of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Xavier is 3-0 and coming off a 2-1 win against Ohio State on Friday afternoon in Bloomington.
