Coming off of a disappointing 1-0 to Penn State last Saturday, the IU men's soccer team came out with full force Friday night against No. 8 Northwestern, winning 2-0.
A corner kick from sophomore forward/midfielder Andy Adlard in the 25th minute was headed in by freshman forward Will Bruin to put the Hoosiers up 1-0.
Just before half in the 37th minute, Adlard attacked the Northwestern defense again. After making a move in the box, Adlard fired a hard shot at the Wildcat goalie. The ball was blocked to the feet of senior midfielder John Mellencamp who put in the rebound.
The Hoosiers controlled possession the entire match and with the win, move to 10-5-3 and 3-3 in the Big Ten rankings.
Mellencamp said he was proud of his team's effort to finish the season strong.
"It feels great," Mellencamp said. "We focused when we needed to, were winning second balls, stayed disciplined. To me that is fun soccer."
IU will watch closely the 2 p.m. match between Penn State and Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. tomorrow afternoon, as it will decide seeding for the Big Ten Tournament in Madison, Wisc.
If Michigan is victorious, the Hoosiers will take the No. 3 spot in the rankings and will play Ohio State on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. If the Nittany Lions win, the Hoosiers will play Penn State on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
