No. 14 Indiana men’s soccer’s first 45 minutes against No. 25 University of Kentucky was shaky.
Indiana trailed 1-0 at the half. But the visiting team’s proven ability to keep fighting despite the deficit was put on display once again.
The Hoosiers ultimately controlled the majority of the second half in their second straight victory, a 2-1 win in Lexington, Kentucky.
While Indiana had a couple opportunities to break through in the first half, it wasn’t able to convert.
Take, for example, junior forward Collins Oduro finding himself undefended on a run in Wildcats territory in the 34th minute.
But instead of slowing down with the ball, Oduro sped up and was out of control. As he fired a lower-quality shot, there was a small margin for error due to the defenders in the path of the shot which led to the shot being off-target.
After Kentucky sophomore forward Joaquin Brizuela headed a goal into the back of the net in the 36th minute to put the hosts in front, Indiana was able to claw back from another first-half deficit.
Despite being narrowly outshot 6-5 in the first half by Kentucky, the Hoosiers were much more aggressive throughout second.
Key substitutions by Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley and aggressive defense and surgical attacking from senior forward Palmer Ault once again led to the notable switch in the match.
One of the substitutions Yeagley made was redshirt freshman forward Nolan Kinsella, who was all over the pitch.
In Indiana’s attack in the 64th minute, Kinsella had the ball around the Kentucky box. Instead of passing it back, Kinsella decided to attack the retreating Wildcats defender, junior Josh Gordon.
Gordon, facing the attack, made a play on the ball but failed to execute it correctly. The Kentucky junior defender tripped Kinsella’s legs, leading to a penalty in the Kentucky box a penalty kick for Indiana.
Indiana’s penalty-kicking specialist is typically Ault, but in his last attempt, Ault missed the shot off the post in the Hoosiers’ crushing 3-2 defeat to Michigan on Sept. 13.
The penalty kick Tuesday was an entirely different story.
As Kentucky senior goalkeeper Sebastian Conlon dove the opposite way, Ault nailed the kick into a vacant goal.
Then, it was a tie game, with the momentum of the match in Indiana’s favor.
Only 15 minutes later, Ault made his final statement of the night and essentially put the game away.
With Oduro on a run on the right side of the pitch, sophomore midfielder Charlie Heuer cut into the box. Heuer then shot the ball into a series of Kentucky defenders in front of its goalkeeper before the ball rebounded back out.
But Ault was there and attacked the opportunity. The Noblesville, Indiana, native wasted no time burying a rolling shot that snuck past the late-reacting Conlon in the net.
With cheers raining down from the stands, despite being on the road, Ault celebrated by running to the corner of the pitch to mimic throwing a grenade with his right hand and then cover his ears as his teammates celebrated with him.
This was Ault’s fifth game-winning goal of the year. He also netted a brace Tuesday night, scoring his 10th and 11th goals of the year and extending his lead in Big Ten goals scored total.
However, the match wasn’t over yet.
Indiana withstood a flurry of attacks from Kentucky’s desperate group on the field. Freshman goalkeeper Judewellin Michel, starting only his second game as the goalkeeper for Indiana, stood strong in the net.
Michel made two critical saves in the final 10 minutes, putting the bow on the Hoosiers’ victory.
Led by Ault's second half brace, Indiana pulled out the 2-1 victory Tuesday night on the road. This victory is Indiana’s sixth non-conference win of the season.
Indiana’s next match is its final non-conference opponent on the regular-season schedule. The Hoosiers play host to Hanover College at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17.
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.
