Indiana men’s soccer fell to Penn State 3-0 in the Big Ten Tournament championship match on a cold and snowy Sunday afternoon in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State won the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2005 and completed the Big Ten double after winning the regular-season title.
“Coach Yeagley and his staff and players, they’re an unbelievable team and a great program,” Penn State head coach Jeff Cook said after the match. “I’m really, really proud of what we did in the regular season, and now winning the Big Ten Tournament championship puts us in a great position for the NCAA Tournament. So again, very proud day for us.”
The Hoosiers took 17 shots and six shots on goal, but Nittany Lion junior goalkeeper Kris Shakes made six saves and secured the clean sheet. Three Nittany Lions scored: senior midfielder Seth Kuhn in the 36th minute, sophomore defender Tyger Evans in the 56th and senior midfielder Pierre Reedy in the 85th.
Kuhn’s opening score was his fifth goal in the last five matches for Penn State after not scoring any in the team’s first 15 matches. Evans and Reedy’s goals proved to be insurance for Penn State as it became the first team since 1991 to win all of its Big Ten Tournament matches by two or more goals.
Overall, the Nittany Lions took 13 shots against the Hoosiers, seven of which were on goal, and Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year junior Roman Celentano finished with four saves. Celentano and senior defender Spencer Glass were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team after the match.
After starting 18 of Indiana’s 19 matches this season, senior midfielder Joe Schmidt didn’t play a single minute for the Hoosiers on Sunday. Schmidt said at a press conference Friday he’d been dealing with tendonitis in his knee this season, but it’s unclear whether that injury kept him out or if it was a tactical decision from head coach Todd Yeagley.
The NCAA Tournament seeding selections will be made at 1 p.m. Monday and both teams are all but guaranteed to make the tournament based on RPI. The Hoosiers advanced to the national championship match last season, but fell 1-0 against Marshall University in overtime.
Indiana finished its season 14-5-1 and 7-4 against Big Ten competition between the regular season and conference tournament. Penn State improved to 13-6-1 this season and finished 9-2 against Big Ten teams.
