After much of the onslaught on the goal came from the Hoosiers in their last matchup on Sunday, the same did not ring true for the Hoosiers Friday night.
In a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Akron the No. 6 Hoosiers were outshot 7-to-5 by the Zips in the first half and 8-to-6 in the second half.
Luis Soffner had more of a test in the Akron game after virtually no action in last week's matchups at the adidas/IU Credit Union classic.
The senior-captain came away from the first half with two saves; both were diving saves toward the upper and lower corners of the net.
Soffner and co-senior captain Caleb Konstanski spent the night keeping the Hoosier defense strong by blocking Akron opportunities at a buffer goal.
"Caleb and Luis are the two that always come forward for us during big games," IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. "They made some great saves tonight, and against a Final-Four team you have to be making those saves."
The Hoosiers were able to break out of their defensive set a few times throughout the first half.
Near the 25th minute defender Patrick Doody put a hopeful ball into the box from near halfway. Eriq Zavaleta nearly reached the ball with his head as he's done many times this season. However, Zips goalkeeper David Meves reached the ball just prior to Zavaleta knocking it in.
Another opportunity came from Nikita Kotlov. The midfielder received the ball inside the six-yard box and poked a shot through. The shot grazed Meves's fingertips then deflected across the right post.
The lone goal from the first half came from a pass from Akron forward Dillon Serna. Eric Stevenson received the ball just inside the 18 and poked a roller through two Indiana defenders. The ball rolled into the inside corner of the right post and bounced into the goal.
"The only goal we let through tonight got lucky," Konstanski said. "It squared across the box and took a deflection. It's unlucky, plays like that, but we stayed strong and finished the game positively."
Coach Yeagley felt the same regret on the hopper shot that ended Indiana's undefeated record.
"That was a disappointing goal to give up," Yeagley said. "It trickled through traffic and found it's way to the back post."
In the second half things were a bit more even.
Midway into the second half, junior midfielder Jacob Bushue dribbled down the right side of the field into the six-yard box. He then played a pass back to Zavaleta who shot at the upper post.
The ball grazed off the keeper's fingertips, barely flying over the goal.
After the game Coach Yeagley said he didn't feel Akron received the best of the Hoosiers.
"I credit Akron for playing well and making it difficult for us," Yeagley said. "But I would definitely like to play that team again when we're in a little bit more of a synch offensively. Defensively we held up pretty well, but we just didn't have our best performance today."
Konstanski felt the same way about the Hoosier defensive effort and offensive potential.
"We've trained for teams like this and it's unlucky to come away without the result we wanted, but we played well defensively," Konstanski said. "We have to put some better things together offensively, but those pieces of the puzzle will come together throughout the season"
