It was evident in their mannerisms and actions. No. 11 Indiana men’s soccer was frustrated.
As a parting gift following the first 45 minutes, graduate student defender Ben Do kicked the ball toward the corner flag before walking with his teammates to the locker room. Few Hoosiers greeted or even looked at each other.
Similarly, the cheers and whoops from the Hoosier Faithful nearly 40 minutes earlier had subsided entirely, leaving an unsettling quiet for the 6,395 fans who made up the third-largest soccer crowd in Bill Armstrong Stadium history.
After another 45 minutes of game action and three more goals added to the scoreline, the frustration persisted. Only this time, it was mutual.
Senior forward Palmer Ault caught the ball in his hands and slammed it into the ground as the final whistle blew, while Tigers players surrounding him placed their hands on their hips and knees.
For a regular season opener featuring two storied programs and two ranked teams, the 2-2 draw between Indiana and Clemson on Thursday evoked frustration while leaving both teams wanting a different feeling — satisfaction.
“It’s a funny locker room after a game like that,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said postgame. “Like they’re feeling good, but they’re still like — you’re not quite there. There’s something missing, and that’s a good thing.”
From the first whistle, it appeared the Hoosiers were ready to put on a show, but the clinical finishing on display in the preseason, which netted eight goals in two games, was absent.
Junior forward Collins Oduro nearly opened the scoring in the first 20 seconds of the game, receiving a pass in stride from the chest of freshman forward Colton Swan. The Bibiani, Ghana, native carried the ball forward until he released a powerful shot, which deflected off a Clemson defender and just squeaked past the post.
Indiana almost scored again less than 10 minutes later, with Ault receiving a pass in the box but rifling his shot off the post. Junior midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi had a chance in nearly the same position five minutes later, one which Yeagley said he nets eight out of 10 times, but his left-footed effort went straight to Clemson senior goalkeeper Joseph Andema.
However, once Clemson senior forward Nathan Richmond scored a golazo from outside the box, the Indiana frustration from the missed opportunities began to bubble to the surface. After a miscue in the Hoosier defense led to a second goal from the penalty spot in the second half, the frustration was palpable.
But Clemson freshman midfielder Kwaku Agyabeng’s second yellow in the 64th minute flipped the game on its head, with the momentum once again favoring Indiana.
And this time, the Hoosiers put their chances to good use.
Just over two minutes after the red card, Swan won a penalty for Indiana, which Ault tucked away in the bottom left corner. Fourteen minutes later, with the opportunities continuing to pile up, the Hoosiers finally found the equalizer — courtesy of Fedrizzi.
Redshirt freshman forward Nolan Kinsella looped a ball in the box that just lifted over the head of the Clemson defender. Fedrizzi, standing right in front of the penalty spot, volleyed home the chance with his right foot — which he noted postgame was not his favorite to use.
“It was a volley with my right, I’m lefty,” Fedrizzi said. “It’s my first goal here at Armstrong in the season, so (I) was excited, (it) was big time and helping the team in a tie was a really good sensation.”
Yeagley admitted his team would have accepted a draw had it been offered when Indiana faced a 2-0 deficit with 25 minutes remaining. But after clawing back from a defeat, with multiple opportunities wasted in both halves, the team remained dissatisfied with the result.
Indiana’s regular season openers have been a consistent sour spot in recent years. A defeat to then-No. 1 Clemson opened the 2022 campaign, followed by a 1-1 draw to the University of Notre Dame and a 2-0 loss to Saint Louis University in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Yet, while those scorelines don’t paint the full picture, neither will the 2025 opener. And Indiana’s 2-2 draw with Clemson reflected a team that refused to quit.
“We’re able to score two goals after we're down 2-0, so that showed a great character for us,” Fedrizzi said. “A strong team that always believes.”
Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer covers Indiana men’s soccer for the Indiana Daily Student. You can follow him at @mateo_frohwer on X and contact him via email at matfuent@iu.edu.
