Collins Oduro shimmies left, then right, but the defender stays with him. He shimmies again — left, right, left, right — and the defender succumbs to the movement, falling to the ground in a heap.
The junior forward lightly taps the ball into the back of the net past the goalkeeper, but the raucous cheers that often accompany a Hoosier goal are nowhere to be heard. In fact, Oduro stands in front of a near-empty stadium as the only member of No. 7 Indiana men’s soccer still on the pitch.
Oduro’s defender and goalkeeper? Two small children. The stakes of the little game? Nonexistent.
Yet the Bibiani, Ghana, native never stopped moving — just as he did for 87 minutes against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Thursday. His slowest moment only came once he exited the field, slowly dipping his body to pick up a dropped colored bib and clapping to the appreciative Hoosier faithful as Indiana closed out the 2-1 win at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
It wasn’t a game that ended in a goal contribution. But that didn't matter.
It was a “dynamic” Oduro performance — something that has become a bit of an expectation in 2025.
“He’s one of the most dynamic college players that there are right now in the game,” senior forward Palmer Ault said postgame. “Anytime he gets it, you know that he’s going to make something happen.”
Oduro finished his sophomore season with three goals and five assists in the final 12 matches, and in the offseason, Orlando City FC selected him in the second round of the 2025 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
But Oduro chose to stay at Indiana — and the Hoosiers are benefitting from it, even with his goalscoring still yet to arrive.
That first breakthrough of the season nearly came in the 23rd minute, beginning on Oduro’s patented wing.
A looping ball from junior defender Victor Akoum took a bounce and landed at the junior’s feet. Oduro began to take on the Phoenix defender, taking his time, before drifting centrally with an incrementally faster pace toward the top of the box — until he abruptly stopped.
In one motion, he cut the ball from his left foot to his right, slipped a shot to the bottom left corner and hit the post.
Oduro immediately put his hands on his head, disappointment in the missed opportunity. But for Todd Yeagley, the play displayed Oduro’s improvement, something the 16-year Indiana head coach hoped to see heading into the season.
“He’s reading the timing of some sequences better, in particular the timing of our overlap movement,” Yeagley said. “His finishes seem to be more passes to goal. He’s had a couple blasts, but he’s just got to get more precise.”
Chances that depend on Oduro's presence don't have to revolve around him either — and that is a skill that adds to his dynamic playstyle.
With just under 20 minutes to go in the first half, Oduro began to coast down the right wing just as he had minutes before. The junior sped up steadily, attempting to use his dribbling and quickness to get past his defender.
Only this time, it wasn’t just one.
As soon as Oduro turned his calm dribbling into a composed sprint, two other Green Bay defenders bolted toward the Hoosier. Noticing the pressure, Oduro shielded the ball and calmly retained possession with a pass to his defense.
In years past, Oduro might not have made the play. His head might have stayed down, he may not have recognized the pressure and Indiana could have lost possession. Yeagley noted postgame this isn’t as big of an issue for his winger anymore.
And while the play in the 31st minute ultimately amounted to nothing, it’s a component of Oduro’s game that makes Ault appreciative of having him as a teammate.
“It just is a true asset that when he does get the ball, the defense shifts towards him,” Ault said. “It makes it easy for us to do movements, knowing that the other team is going to focus on him.”
Yet more noticeable than arguably any of his other traits, Oduro failed to stop running.
He stayed pressuring the backline and falling into defensive shape with 10 minutes to go. With five minutes to go, he tracked back and won the ball for Indiana, retaining possession in a critical phase of the game.
Small moments in a match where Oduro runs to his defensive shape, challenges for a tackle or drags pressure from his teammates don’t show up on the stat sheet. Yet that doesn’t matter to Oduro’s game, which has transcended the box score regardless of whether the goals begin to come.
But with two assists already under his belt, and numerous close chances over the first three games, Ault believes the goals are imminent.
And soon Oduro can add to his resume of goals in a Hoosier uniform — which now includes a quality finish against two small children.
Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer covers Indiana men’s soccer for the Indiana Daily Student. You can follow him at @mateo_frowher on X and contact him via email at matfuent@iu.edu.
