Charlie Heuer drifts around the field, gliding with his bright pink cleats. His straight brown hair flops with every step.
Then, in an instant, the sophomore midfielder pounces.
He arrives at the loose ball and turns, letting it roll past him. His head stays up, and his eyes spot sophomore forward Easton Bogard. Heuer delivers a delicate pass with one touch from the outside of his foot, and Bogard chips the keeper, only to find he is offside.
It was the first goal, official or not, that Heuer directly contributed to Friday against Ohio State.
It wasn’t the last.
Heuer played only 55 minutes of action, but he directly impacted three of No. 20 Indiana men’s soccer’s four goals in a 4-2 win over the Buckeyes at Bill Armstrong Stadium. In his first start since Aug. 21 against Clemson University, Heuer returned to Jerry Yeagley Field and delivered.
“Charlie changes a lot of things we can do,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said postgame. “It gives our midfield a lot of flexibility. We finally can get (Jack) Wagoner and (Cristiano) Bruletti a break.”
Heuer’s impact was apparent from the jump with Bogard’s offside goal. Less than two minutes later, he created another scoring chance, which Bogard was able to finish — legally this time.
Senior midfielder Cristiano Bruletti found Heuer in the midfield just as a Buckeye defender approached him. With one touch, Heuer calmly passed the ball around the onrushing player to Ault, who streaked forward to provide the assist to Bogard.
The next notable impact came in the second half as Indiana faced a 2-1 deficit. Heuer raced toward the endline, jostling with Ohio State graduate defender Thomas Gilej, and his efforts earned the Hoosiers a free kick just outside the box next to the endline.
Ault found junior defender Alex Barger for the equalizer on the ensuing free kick.
And after helping deliver two critical goals, it was the third that got Heuer onto the stat sheet for the first time in 2025.
Heuer began the attack after picking up the ball in the final third following a Buckeye slip. Indiana ended up losing the ball, but Bogard’s deflection from an Ohio State clearance brought the ball to Heuer’s feet, and with one touch and a pass, he found Ault for the winning goal.
“Getting him in, he really just sets the tone with his combination play and making things happen offensively,” Ault said about Heuer. “He set the press for us as well, so getting him back in the lineup with him, Cristiano and Wags was crucial for our midfield to, you know, get clicking back on all cylinders.”
Heuer’s responsibility in the middle of the pitch extends beyond his attacking work — it involves his retention of possession, even when he’s the one who loses the ball.
An example of this came in the first half, with Heuer using his body to shield the ball from an oncoming defender. Carrying the play forward with the space he created, he eventually ran out of room and lost possession.
But he didn’t quit there. Heuer’s light jog back into defense turned into a big run as Ohio State moved forward. His effort was immediately rewarded as he won the ball from a Buckeye defender and passed it forward.
Heuer acknowledged that Indiana’s first half could have been better, particularly with misplaced passes and “uncharacteristic giveaways” in the final third. But the ideas were still there, and as the second half wore on, those ideas turned to goals.
“We started connecting,” Heuer said about the three-goal second half. “I felt like the chemistry was building back with those guys that I missed after missing a little bit of time.”
Heuer’s return to the starting lineup comes at an opportune time for Indiana, as its next four games are in a 10-day stretch.
But for Heuer himself, the return marks the culmination of a journey — one which began 49 days prior.
“It was a tough battle mentally and physically,” Heuer said. “To be back out there with the guys and have my step and be able to impact the game — it meant a lot.”
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.
