Five straight unbeaten games. Four straight victories. Consecutive clean sheets.
The start of No. 4 Indiana men’s soccer’s season couldn’t have gone much better.
The Hoosiers haven’t faced an easy schedule with three ranked matchups, including a 2-2 draw with No. 3 Clemson University on Aug. 21. And through critical injuries, they have succeeded in a trifecta of ways — comebacks, domination and dogged defending.
The schedule won’t get any easier with just one match to go before conference play — and it may be one of the hardest games of the season so far.
Indiana and the University of Notre Dame are set to faceoff for the 50th time in the matchup’s history, with this iteration kicking off at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Alumni Stadium in South Bend. Following a five-game homestand to begin the season, the Hoosiers’ first road test will be against a Fighting Irish squad that has not succumbed to the Cream and Crimson since 2022.
Scoring spread evenly
At this point a season ago, Indiana sat at 1-2-2, and its goalscoring distribution was weak — five goals spread between three players.
Everything is different a year later.
The Hoosiers have yet to go scoreless in a game so far this season, and five different players have combined for the 10 total goals. Senior forward Palmer Ault and junior midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi lead the way with four and three goals, respectively, and sophomore forwards Easton Bogard and Michael Nesci along with junior forward Collins Oduro have a goal apiece.
A notable absence in the goalscoring? Colton Swan.
The freshman forward joined Indiana after two years with the Colorado Rapids academy, in which he scored 34 goals. Head coach Todd Yeagley noted Aug. 28 that Swan is a player he wished he could "script” a goal for to build his confidence, but it’s clear the 16-year head coach hasn’t lost confidence in the youngster as he has started every game this season.
Meet the Fighting Irish
Indiana is the second Big Ten matchup for Notre Dame this season, with the first being a 1-1 draw against Michigan on Aug. 21. With another draw, this time to IU-Indianapolis, and a victory over Oregon State University, the Fighting Irish are undefeated entering Sunday’s match.
Notre Dame is coming off a 7-5-5 season that ended in disappointment, especially considering 2023 featured a NCAA Championship Runners Up finish, and it lost its two biggest contributors to graduation. Forward Matthew Roou led the team in 2024 with 14 goals and finished third with four assists while midfielder Bryce Boneau had a team-high eight assists.
Both of the Fighting Irish’s goals this season have come from defenders — graduate student Diego Ochoa and senior Mitch Ferguson — but they still have fire power to keep Indiana cautious. The trio of senior midfielder Sebastian Green, junior midfielder Nolan Spicer and junior forward Jack Flanagan combined for nine goals and six assists in 2024.
Kickoff between the in-state rivals is set for 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Alumni Stadium in South Bend. Coverage will be available on the ACC Network.
Follow reporters Elakai Anela (elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) and Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer and matfuent@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men's soccer season.
