Soccer may be a team sport, but forwards put the ball in the net better than anyone. In 2025, Indiana’s top four goal scorers included three forwards.
While Indiana added two freshmen at the position, four forwards departed from the Hoosiers following the 2025 season. These absences, paired with redshirt sophomore Nolan Kinsella’s transition to defender, leave several holes to be filled by fresh faces.
In response to these notable subtractions, Indiana brought in the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, according to Top Drawer Soccer.
This combination of returning veterans, rising freshmen and high-caliber transfers will take on the task of avenging the Hoosiers’ disappointing end to 2025, in which Indiana suffered a 1-0 second-round loss to Saint Louis University in the NCAA Tournament.
Another year of Oduro
Once again, senior Collins Oduro is the only returner on the starting forward line. Oduro, who is preparing for his fourth season as a Hoosier, boasted four goals and six assists last season, both second-best on the team.
The former Big Ten All-Freshman member has been a core piece of the Indiana forward line all three years of his collegiate career, averaging four goals per season.
Oduro has certainly recorded remarkable point totals in his first three seasons, with campaigns of 12, 11 and 14 points. However, percentages are where his value appears to fade, despite taking the second-most shots among all Hoosiers in 2025.
The Ghana-born Oduro saw his shooting percentage drop from 9.4% to 7.7% between his freshman and sophomore years and then rose to 8.3% his junior year.
Oduro’s shot-on-goal percentage has exponentially regressed each year at Indiana, with a 41.5% freshman-year clip plummeting to 18.8% last season, Indiana’s second-lowest among qualified players.
Oduro’s production is undeniable. He has been a reliable goalscorer and ball-sharer for three strong years in Bloomington. However, his perpetual second-mate status and underwhelming shooting percentages may diminish the value of the fourth-year Hoosier.
Njike filling big shoes
A different forward has led Indiana in goals every season since 2021. With Palmer Ault, last season’s goal leader, continuing his career in Major League Soccer, this trend is almost sure to continue.
The clear candidate to continue the streak is junior Stephane Njike.
Following a single season at Maryland, in which he earned first-team All-Big Ten and United Soccer Coaches All-North Region first-team honors, Njike prepares to suit up for his fourth collegiate team.
“Every team (Njike)’s been on, he’s impacted in a positive way,” head coach Todd Yeagley said during a press conference Aug. 4. “I think he’s really excited to have some stability and be somewhere for a while.”
The French import was seventh in the Big Ten in points last season, tallying 21 points in his lone year at Maryland, including seven goals, which was sixth best in the conference.
Njike headlines a star-studded Indiana transfer class and is widely expected to be Indiana’s first option.
“He gives us another great tool at our disposal,” Yeagley said. “We’re thrilled.”
After leading the Terrapins in both shot attempts and shots on goal in 2025, Njike’s transfer to Indiana should allow him to continue his zero-hesitation play style, joining the equally confident Oduro.
Who else fills in the starting forward line?
While there is nothing prohibiting Indiana from utilizing a two-forward formation, recent Indiana teams have rarely started fewer than three forwards, occasionally opting to start as many as six forwards.
While these six-forward scenarios were often the result of midfielders and defenders being flexed into the forward position, there truly is no ceiling on the number of forwards the Hoosiers may utilize in the upcoming season.
Oduro and Njike are near locks to be in Indiana’s first starting lineup. But the ones who will join them in the starting 11 remain to be seen.
Senior Oliver Moller-Jensen and senior Bennett Painter, both incoming transfers, joined Oduro and Njike as goalscorers in Indiana’s 6-1 exhibition victory over Bowling Green State University on Aug. 10.
Moller-Jensen, who was named second-team All-Conference in the American Athletic Conference in 2025, totaled 18 points in his junior season at Florida Atlantic University, which was the Owls’ second-highest point total.
Following a 30-point season in 2024, Painter’s mere 13 points in 2025, his final season at Bowling Green, seemed disappointing. However, Painter raised his shot-on-goal percentage from 48.1% to 50% between his sophomore and junior seasons, despite scoring eight less goals.
Beyond these four notable attackers, redshirt senior Luka Bezerra, junior Easton Bogard and senior Clay Murador will all make their cases for significant roles on the 2026 Hoosiers, alongside a strong freshman forward class.
Indiana men’s soccer will commence the 2026 regular season against the University of Notre Dame at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Aug. 20.
Follow reporters Noah Boudouris (@noahboudouris and nboudour@iu.edu) and Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s soccer season.
