At 7 p.m. Friday night in Bill Armstrong Stadium, Indiana men’s soccer kicked off against Maryland in a match that wouldn’t end until around 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
Due to lightning and thunderstorms in the area Friday night, the match was suspended at 9:37 p.m. with the Terrapins leading 1-0 and 20:20 left on the clock. The remaining time was played Saturday morning, but the result held.
“It’s weird starting the game in a segment, like in that moment,” head coach Todd Yeagley said postgame. “That’s weird from a rhythm standpoint.”
Even so, the Hoosiers found chances despite the circumstances. With around three minutes left in the game, a scramble near the Terrapins’ goal left the ball momentarily alone. Indiana graduate student forward Justin Weiss slid to try and nudge it across the goal line, but a heap of Maryland defenders combined to clear away the danger.
Across Friday night and Saturday morning, Indiana totaled 16 shots and five on target. Yet, in what’s become a recurring theme throughout the season, it lacked the final touch needed to see those chances bear results.
In a 1-1 draw with the University of Evansville on Sept. 17, it was 20 shots and six on target. In a 2-0 loss to the University of Dayton on Sept. 9, the Hoosiers fired 15 shots and four on frame. While frustration would be conceivable given the squandered opportunities, Yeagley remains optimistic the scoring will come.
“We’ve done enough in all the games, outside of the Saint Louis game, to flip the results,” Yeagley said. “We could easily be sitting in a way different position, and there wouldn’t be a concern that the outside has.”
“The inside feels confident. They’re frustrated, but confident.”
Aside from the struggles around goal, Yeagley took exception to the officiating. In the 40thminute Friday night, redshirt sophomore defender Breckin Minzey tugged on the jersey of Maryland junior forward Colin Griffith, who tumbled to the grass inside the penalty area.
The referees motioned for a penalty kick and checked the monitor before confirming the decision and sending the Terrapins to the spot. Maryland sophomore midfielder Leon Koehl calmly tucked his shot into the bottom right corner as Indiana fifth-year senior goalkeeper JT Harms dove the opposite direction.
Leon Koehl strikes on the PK for a @MarylandMSoccer lead in the first 45’ ☄️ #B1GMSoccer pic.twitter.com/a6jV5TAbQs
— Big Ten Soccer (@B1GSoccer) September 21, 2024
“That’s a disappointing review,” Yeagley said. “...The whistle has not been advantageous, or it’s been used incorrectly.”
Still, as has been the case recently, Indiana certainly offered positive flashes. In the 68th minute Friday night, around one minute before the suspension of play, Maryland junior forward Sadam Masereka split the Hoosiers’ backline on a counterattack and only had one remaining obstacle in his path.
Harms — bursting off his line toward the top of the box — cut off Masereka’s angle for a shot and extended his left arm to parry away the chance. Indiana sophomore forward Collins Oduro, especially in the final segment of the match Saturday morning, was frequently weaving around Terrapin defenders on the wing and creating chances.
Despite applying late pressure and logging four shots and four corner kicks in the final 20:20 of the match, the equalizer never came. Yeagley praised Maryland postgame, saying 32nd-year head coach Sasho Cirovski’s side was “hurt” after finishing at the bottom of the Big Ten last season.
While Indiana plunges into a gauntlet of opponents in the next couple weeks, filled with squads like No. 7 Ohio State, No. 17 Wisconsin and Washington, the team’s hopes to finish atop the conference table are far from dashed. Yeagley said the Hoosiers’ performance in the non-conference slate was more consequential in terms of their current resume.
Now with a full week off to prepare for a road trip to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the Buckeyes, there’s ample time for introspection and evaluation.
Though salvaging a point against Maryland certainly would’ve been beneficial, Yeagley anticipates movement in the conference standings as the season wears on, and in turn, equal footing for the Hoosiers to return to conference glory.
“I don’t think anyone’s running the table in the Big Ten,” Yeagley said. “I think there’ll be some losses across the conference, and therefore we have just as good opportunities as the rest to be in that fighting position at the end.”
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s soccer season.
