What to do when the squad has depth? Play around with the lineup to find the best fit for each matchup, of course.
Indiana men’s soccer head coach Todd Yeagley had an abundance of skilled defenders, so he decided to start all of them. Senior defenders Joey Maher and Jansen Miller composed the defensive pair and senior defender Hugo Bacharach started as defensive midfielder against No. 19 Penn State.
When Yeagley decided to sit Bacharach out of his usual starting defensive role against Wisconsin and Butler University, Miller came in and took care of the job besides Maher. With all three defenders in good form, the coach decided to play Bacharach for the first time in a more advanced role — this time as a midfielder.
Entering the game, the Nittany Lions had 17 goals in 10 games this season. The Hoosiers opted for a reinforced defense for the matchup at University Park, Pennsylvania.
In previous games, Bacharach showed flashes of offensive talent, often carrying the ball all the way to the last third of the field or winning headers inside the opponent’s box. Yeagley saw his ability with the ball and bumped him up the lineup.
The Hoosiers tied Notre Dame 1-1 in South Bend in the season opener.
Against Penn State it was no different. Bacharach won most of the ground and aerial duels on the defense and, up front, helped Indiana generate chances.
On a quick counterattack with 24 minutes to go in the first half, Bacharach’s through ball to junior forward Sam Sarver behind the defense set up a one-on-one against Penn State’s fifth-year senior goalkeeper Kris Shakes. Sarver made the cut and left Shakes behind for an easy tap in a wide-open net to put the Hoosiers ahead 1-0.
With 12 minutes to go in the first, freshman forward Clay Murador set up Sarver to another one-on-one with Shakes and, this time, the goalkeeper brought Sarver down, awarding Indiana a penalty. However, the goalkeeper redeemed himself by saving Sarver’s shot with his feet.
A minute later, Shakes sent a ball forward and a miscommunication between Maher and senior goalkeeper JT Harms left Penn State senior forward Peter Mangione with a wide-open goal for the tie.
The Hoosiers lost 2-1 to the Spartans.
Indiana reduced Penn State to just three shots in the first half and only one on goal — the easy tap-in after the defense’s mistake — showing the effectiveness of the defensive lineup.
Back for the second half, Bacharach made a pass to Sarver at the left edge of the box just a minute into the half. The attacker cut to the middle and fired one into the top right corner to put Indiana ahead 2-1.
Sarver enhanced his lead as the top scorer for the Hoosiers with five goals this season, followed by freshman forward Collins Oduro with two goals.
The game slowed down as both teams did not generate many chances. But, with 34 minutes to go in the game, Sarver put one in the box off a free kick and Bacharach headed the ball just wide to left.
With 10 minutes left, Sarver and Bacharach combined to a triangular play, leaving the Hoosier defender alone on the deep left side of the field. Bacharach made a low cross looking for Henderlong inside the box but Shakes dove to make the save and prevent Bacharach’s third assist of the game.
In the dying minutes of the game, Indiana resisted pressure from Penn State, counting on its defenders to clear crosses and block shots.
Indiana finished the game with 16 shot attempts — four on goal — while Penn State had four shots on goal in 11 total attempts.
The Hoosiers got their first Big Ten win of the season and look to keep the streak going against the University of Evansville. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at Bill Armstrong Stadium and the game will be streamed live on Big Ten+.
