Entering the second half of its eight-match conference schedule, Indiana men’s soccer finds itself in desperate need of wins in pursuit of its 18th Big Ten regular season title.
The Hoosiers posted a 1-1-2 record through their first four matches. After opening the Big Ten slate with a road loss to Ohio State and letting Michigan State come from behind to draw, Indiana secured a morale-boosting win against Northwestern but once again split the points with Michigan.
Those results give the Hoosiers five points out of a possible 12, and the team stands in fifth place in the conference standings. With league-leading No. 8 Maryland at 10 points, Indiana has almost no choice but to perfectly close out its schedule in hopes of contending.
The good news? Three of the Hoosiers’ final four Big Ten matches come against the current top-three teams in the conference. Results the rest of the way will have double the importance.
Their first chance to shake up the table: a matchup against third-place Rutgers – seven points – at noon Sunday in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Plenty of excuses could be made for why Indiana came out flat in the first half – the grind of the Big Ten slate always takes a physical toll, the parity around the league could arguably be increasing or the Hoosiers are still learning how to best utilize all of their pieces given their tremendous depth.
While all of this could’ve easily contributed to the Hoosiers’ slow start, the loss of redshirt senior defender Daniel Munie to a hamstring injury prior to the Big Ten slate undoubtedly made a difference. Without the team’s leader anchoring the back line, the other Hoosier defenders rotated and sometimes abandoned their natural positions.
Head coach Todd Yeagley said many of his defenders can play effectively in different positions along the back line. Senior defenders Brett Bebej and Nyk Sessock thrived switching sides on the wings and substituting at center back while Munie sat out, but Indiana ultimately still conceded goals too often.
The Hoosiers didn’t hold a single opponent scoreless in the five matches Munie sat watching. In Munie’s first full match back against the University of Notre Dame on Wednesday, Oct. 5, Indiana’s defense held onto its 1-0 lead for 65 minutes.
[Related: Indiana men’s soccer retains in-state bragging rights with 1-0 win over Notre Dame]
In what are likely to be low-scoring, competitive matches against the likes of Rutgers, Penn State and Maryland down the stretch, Indiana will need the same level of maturity and discipline to come out on top.
There’s much more to play for than just a conference title, though. Standing at 5-2-3, the Hoosiers need to close out the season positively to earn a 36th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and secure a high seed for the bracket.
The Big Ten Tournament offers the Hoosiers another important opportunity to boost their resume and win at least one of two possible conference titles, but there’s no need to stack pressure on themselves before then.
Entering Sunday’s matchup, Indiana has won in five of its last six meetings against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights beat the Hoosiers 2-1 at Bill Armstrong Stadium last regular season, but the Hoosiers got revenge in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory back in Bloomington.
After starting the conference slate with wins against Northwestern and Wisconsin, Rutgers slipped up in recent matches with a 2-2 draw against Ohio State and 3-2 loss to Maryland. With Rutgers falling into poor form, all three points are for the taking for Indiana, which is back at full health.
The Hoosiers’ restored back line will be tasked with containing the Scarlet Knights’ potent attack, averaging 2.36 goals per game with strong buildup play that has provided assists on 25 of their 26 total goals this season. Senior forward MD Myers and senior midfielder Jackson Temple lead the Scarlet Knights with nine and five goals, respectively.
Rutgers’ defense has posted just one shutout through 11 games, though. The Scarlet Knights’ shaky back line will give the resurging Hoosiers, led by senior forward Ryan Wittenbrink’s five goals, enough chances to keep up on the scoreboard should the match turn into a shootout.
Indiana has its first shot at 800 total wins in program history on Sunday.
