No. 14 Indiana men’s soccer kicks off its final four regular season Big Ten games of the year against Wisconsin on Tuesday night.
The Hoosiers will also face Maryland, Northwestern and Rutgers during the final stretch of the year. Both Maryland and Rutgers are ahead of Indiana in the Big Ten standings — Maryland is 5-0-2 while Rutgers is 3-3-1 in conference play. Indiana sits at 3-3-0, just behind Rutgers.
Indiana has historically been on top of the Big Ten, clinching 19 Big Ten regular-season titles since the program was founded as a varsity sport in 1973. Last season, Indiana was a co-Big Ten regular season titleholder.
Despite currently eight points behind first-place Maryland, Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley understands Indiana must approach every day with a game-by-game mindset.
“Everybody knows the margins are tight and every point is critical,” Yeagley said Oct. 17. “We slipped a bit early; all we care about is Wisconsin on Tuesday. The math is difficult but all we care about is winning each game.”
That philosophy hasn’t changed over the past couple of days.
In fact, on Oct. 20, Yeagley made an analogy to the Big Ten being like brush strokes on a canvas where the paint “takes form” — referencing the Big Ten shaping up as the season has progressed.
He also said Indiana can’t afford to drop a game and “controls its own destiny” down the stretch.
Tuesday night is a major hurdle in Indiana's path to potentially being back-to-back Big Ten regular season champions.
Heuer’s impact levels midfield, other aspects of the pitch
Indiana’s coaching staff knew when sophomore midfielder Charlie Heuer got injured against then-ranked No. 9 Clemson University on Aug. 21 it would be a long road to recovery.
Although he was fully healthy nearly a month later, Heuer still had to get his legs back under him, which took a few games.
The sophomore midfielder made his impact during Indiana’s 2-1 victory against Kentucky on Oct. 14. He made two crucial tackles, one leading to the go-ahead goal by senior forward Palmer Ault goal in the 79th minute.
While it typically doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, Heuer’s proven ability to find spaces, tactically create scoring opportunities for his teammates and defend at a high-level are all intangible traits.
Yeagley noted those intangibles, also saying Heuer’s play gives his teammates “extra confidence” on Oct. 20.
“He sees and manipulates space. He’s always a play ahead,” Yeagley said. “He’s always scanning, looking and his feet are clever; he finds the right pass because of his awareness and technique.”
History between both programs
Indiana has historically dominated the Badgers, especially when playing at home.
The Hoosiers are 46-5-10 all-time and are 26-1-3 at home against Wisconsin. Indiana hasn’t lost to Badgers at home since 1993.
Indiana went on the road and defeated then-ranked No. 8 Wisconsin 3-2 in last year’s meeting. Then-sophomore forward Collins Oduro scored two goals and netted one assist, contributing to all three Indiana goals in the game.
The Hoosiers haven’t suffered a regular-season loss to Wisconsin since 2013 but were knocked out by the Badgers in the Big Ten Tournament in 2016 and 2017.
Behind the Badgers
Wisconsin enters the match on with an overall record of 5-6-0 (2-4-0 Big Ten). The Badgers have struggled this year but are coming off a 2-0 victory over Michigan State on Oct. 17.
Wisconsin poses a threat in the middle of the field led by sophomore midfielder Matthew Zachemski. He leads the Badgers in goals scored with four and eight points this year.
However, Yeagley believes Wisconsin’s depth brings a greater threat than just Zachemski.
“There’s not just one player that will beat us,” Yeagley said Oct. 20. “That makes them more challenging because they’re pretty balanced. They're a team that is fine with absorbing, not controlling, the tempo of the game. Overall, they defend hard; it’s a good defensive team. It’s going to be a gritty game, and a heck of challenge for our group.”
The Badgers’ stout backline and midfield will be a challenge the Hoosiers have to break through. Wisconsin has conceded an average of 1.45 goals per game this year.
Ultimately, the importance of this game can’t be overstated.
A Badgers win would move Wisconsin up in the Big Ten standings over Indiana. Meanwhile, for the Hoosiers, a win would be their fourth conference victory of the season and likely push them above Rutgers and UCLA.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Coverage of the match will be available on Big Ten 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.
