Washington sophomore midfielder Alex Hall runs with the ball off a throw in from the sideline. Hall, with a defender on his hip, finds senior midfielder Richie Aman who feeds the ball right back to the diving Hall. Hall does the rest, pushing the ball past Indiana graduate student goalkeeper Holden Brown. Unable to make the save, Brown pounds the ground in frustration as the Huskies celebrate.
Brown’s visible frustration was the story of Indiana’s night. The frustration began in the first 20 minutes, when Indiana found themselves trailing early similar to its 1-0 loss Sept. 23 against Michigan State.
Before the match against Washington, in a press conference Wednesday, Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said it would “likely be a tight game” but expected the match to come down to whoever was “able to make the big-time plays.”
In the first 20 minutes, it ended up being Washington who made the plays necessary to take control of the match. These series of plays, notably the goal scored, ended up being crucial for the Huskies in their 3-0 victory over Indiana on Friday night at Husky Soccer Stadium in Seattle.
Washington outshot the Hoosiers 8-1 in the first 20 minutes, holding the 1-0 advantage heading into halftime, although the Hoosiers had a couple chances to even the match up in the 45th minute and weren’t able to convert.
However, Indiana managed to keep it a 1-0 affair past the first 45 minutes, and eventually into the 74th minute. But Washington broke through yet again, seizing control of the match.
Charlie Kosakoff put the ultimate dagger into Indiana after Washington’s Hall pushed the ball into the box and found the cutting junior forward. He hit the ball off his right foot and past the diving Brown, who wasn’t able to put his hand on the ball.
Indiana’s dwindling success offensively continued to show as the game progressed.
Washington graduate goalkeeper Jadon Bowton held the Hoosiers scoreless throughout the match. Bowton saved three Indiana shots on goal.
On the other end, Indiana’s goalkeeper, Brown, wasn’t finding the same success.
Indiana’s backline, which was in question after giving up two goals to UCLA on Sept. 26 and three goals against Michigan on Sept. 13 in its last two home games, faltered on Friday night.
On Washington’s third goal of the night, and the first career goal for second-year defender Asher Hestad, Indiana’s defense was exposed on the set piece.
Aman’s corner floated to Hestad, who headed it past the outstretched Brown. The goal by the Seattle native was the icing on the cake for the Huskies. Indiana’s defenders stood and watched the ball instead of clearing it away, leading to the open shot on goal.
As the clock ran down in the final minutes, Washington was able to stand strong and shut out a potent Hoosier attack en route to a 3-0 victory.
Indiana, despite winning against UCLA on Sept. 26 in its prior match, ultimately took a step backward Friday. The Hoosiers continued their slow start in conference play, now holding a record of 2-3-0 in Big Ten play and 7-3-1 overall.
Indiana’s next match is back at home at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 against Ohio State.
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.
