When two of the Big Ten’s elite defenses meet, goals are hard to come by.
No. 2 Indiana men’s soccer found itself deadlocked in a 0-0 tie through 56 minutes against No. 13 Wisconsin on Tuesday. The two teams exchanged 15 total shots throughout the first half and Wisconsin had tallied one shot early in the second.
Indiana’s junior Michal Mroz and Wisconsin’s sophomore Judewellin Michel had each made a save and delivered on every defensive opportunity up to that point.
Wisconsin sophomore midfielder Aidan Martinez was shown a yellow card, the team’s fourth of the game. Indiana prepared for a free kick.
Senior defender Alex Barger settled around 80 feet from the goal with an opportunity to add to his team-leading three assists. He paused for eight seconds. Raising his arm, Barger sent the free kick away with his left foot.
The ball’s first destination was Indiana junior forward Easton Bogard. Bogard entered the match ranked second on the team with four goals on the season, including the game-winning goal in Indiana’s 1-0 victory over Washington on Friday.
But Bogard would not score Tuesday night.
The deflection from Bogard sent the ball to the chest of redshirt sophomore defender Nolan Kinsella. Kinsella, while very active offensively, had yet to put a ball in the back of the net in a collegiate match.
And Kinsella did score.
Recruited straight from Munster High School in Munster, Indiana, Kinsella made zero starts in his freshman year, nine starts in his redshirt freshman season and has finally taken an elevated roll in his third season donning cream and crimson, starting every match thus far.
Kinsella entered Tuesday with zero career goals. He had two shots on goal this season and only one in the last. Since he became a Hoosier, Kinsella had never been associated with goal-scoring.
Yet, he broke through.
From Kinsella’s chest, the ball floated for a moment, giving the Indiana native just enough of a glance as it dropped towards his feet.
As the ball made contact with the grass, Kinsella delivered an emphatic, right-footed flick, sending it to the left pocket of the goal.
Michel could do nothing but watch.
With an open-mouthed grin, Kinsella bounded away from the goal, arms and eyes wide, soon surrounded by teammates.
Kinsella scored his first goal.
It’s rare for anyone to score against Wisconsin. The Badgers had allowed only four goals entering play Tuesday, which ranked second best in the Big Ten. Michel’s 0.57 goals against average and 84% save percentage were both runners-up in the conference, only falling behind Indiana’s Michael Mroz.
Although the Hoosiers didn’t leave Madison, Wisconsin, with a win after surrendering a game-tying goal in the 68th minute, Kinsella’s goal saved Indiana from its first loss of the season. This extended the Hoosiers’ unbeaten streak to nine matches, their longest since 2017.
With the draw, Indiana moves to 1-0-2 away from Bloomington. The Hoosiers have been perfect at home but have yet to score more than one goal in a road game. With just three more away contests on the schedule, Indiana faces limited opportunities to become acclimatized to road atmospheres before postseason play begins.
With four straight home matches on the horizon, the Hoosiers will have an ideal rebound opportunity when they return to Bloomington, beginning with Penn State on Friday. With postseason hopes high for No. 2 Indiana, games in the power-packed Big Ten give the Cream and Crimson plenty of chances against the nation’s best.
“Just really have to focus on the next one,” head coach Todd Yeagley said after the team’s Sept. 18 game against Washington. “This is the best the conference has been.”
All season, Indiana’s backline had been the driving force behind the Hoosiers unbeaten start. The defense allowed its fourth goal of the year on Tuesday, the least in the Big Ten. With five shutouts, the Hoosiers have relied on their defense. In Madison, a defender made all the offensive difference.
Kinsella has been everything that the Hoosiers have needed defensively, joining forces with the rest of Indiana’s formidable backline to form one of the nation’s top defenses. On a night in which Indiana’s offense struggled, Kinsella delivered the unexpected rescue.
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.
