IU Men's Soccer News and Notes

[Brass Cannon]

31 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Welcome back to 2017/2018 IU Soccer as a legit national contender as one of the top 5 squads in the country. It's been too long. This Notre Dame game is a bellwether for how serious the Hoosiers are about getting back to the College Cup and maybe winning a title without divine intervention like in 2022. Test past!

 Getting back to Cary, N.C., for another College Cup will very likely be attempted the easy way, with at least two home games, if not three, and likely only one heavyweight battle coming in the Elite Eight. Doesn't mean you get that far, as happened in 2019. However, they will almost certainly get two home games in the Round of 32 and the Sweet 16, where they are the clear favorites. 

Similar to 2017, where 2016 saw longtime veterans gone, and the season was basically a birthday present waiting to be unwrapped. 2025, after 2024, is similar, with the talent of new players coming in vs. ones departed taking the squad to a whole new level from solid to elite. In 2017, it was Trey Muse, Mason Toye, Griffin Dorsey, and Justin Rennicks replacing Colin Webb, Grant Lillard, Richard Ballard, and Tanner Thompson, to go with veterans coming into their own in Andrew Gutman and Francesco Moore, among others. 

It's not that the losses are not big. It's just the replacements are even better and move the team to a whole new tier. Similarly, now in 2025, you lost JT Harms, Tommy Mihalic, Samuel Sarver, and Patrick McDonald. However, the veterans are coming into their own in Collins Oduro, Josh Maher, and Alex Barger, with newcomers in Palmer Ault, Jacopo Fedrizzi, and Colton Swan being even better than their predecessors, unlocking a whole new level not seen in several seasons. 

Great to hear this is your assessment. Might try and make the trip if we make it this year 

[Hoosierfan1901]

Up to No. 1 on RPI

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

IUMS ranked #1

Holden Brown B1G goalkeeper of the week

Collins Oduro offensive player of the week

Breckin Minzey defensive player of the week

Top Drawer Soccer team of the week

 

 

 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

IUMS ranked #1
Holden Brown B1G goalkeeper of the week
Collins Oduro offensive player of the week
Breckin Minzey defensive player of the week
Top Drawer Soccer team of the week
 
 
 

Fun!

Oduro has been great this season. I don’t think he came off the field vs Notre Dame. At that position that’s incredible.

Previous years we would get out possessed even in a lot of the games we won. This years team is better at controlling the ball. Also willing to quick strike.

So far, so good.


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[Brass Cannon]

Clemson lost at home on Tuesday. If we take care of business on Saturday we should be #1 across all polls 

[Brass Cannon]

IU with a goal. Up 1-0 on UM

[Brass Cannon]

We give up a goal near the end of the half on a penalty but overall Michigan was playing much more engaged and energized. Need to get dialed in for the second half 

[Brass Cannon]

47 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

We give up a goal near the end of the half on a penalty but overall Michigan was playing much more engaged and energized. Need to get dialed in for the second half 

We give up another goal go down 2-1. 
 

A very disappointing performance all things considered 

[Hoosierfan1901]

Unable to watch, are we just playing bad?

[Hoosierfan1901]

Michigan is 38 on RPI and will rise after they win, not a horrible loss. But it sounds like a disappointing one

[Brass Cannon]

We are at home and about to lose by multiple goals.  Maybe not a terrible loss but one we are going to want back if we don’t win the conference. 
 

And certainly doesn’t give me any reason to think this team is any different than previous teams that lacked a killer instinct 

[Hoosierfan1901]

Brass did we look sloppy all match?

[Hoosierfan1901]

If this bites them back for the conference race, I’ll be pretty mad

[Hoosierfan1901]

Just saw the missed PK update, yikes

[Hoosierfan1901]

3-2 Michigan Final

We had a PK shot at the end to tie, but missed it 

[Aaron]

Total failure to perform. I'm not sure if IU got fat and happy at number one, but that was the worst performance I have seen from the Hoosiers in a VERY long time. IU scored first against the run of play, but were dominated for 90 minutes from start to finish in a way that should NEVER happen to this program.

Very lucky Wolverines didn't end up running away with this, and it's a minor miracle Indiana had a chance at the end. IU's missed PK at the end to tie was total sweet justice from the soccer gods, as they had no business taking anything but a terrible loss. The team went from looking like the best in the country to one that doesn't even deserve to be ranked.

Hope the Hoosiers enjoyed being number one because they won't be there anymore if they play like that again this season. This team, which I thought had regained the 2017 and 2018 form, can't be said to be that again in 2025. Those teams' off nights turned into ties or a loss to the very top of the country, which Michigan is not close to.

IU can still have a relatively special fall if they make sure this is a one-off, but the best Hoosier soccer teams don't give efforts like that and get dominated on their home field. Now I am not sure if this is a top-five squad or another borderline-seeded team, as they have been since COVID.

We will find out quickly after some soul searching from Yeagley and players if this is one of the special Indiana teams or another pretty good one. I really thought we were headed towards special, but after tonight, that is very much in the air.

One note that shows metrics can be questionable: IU is somehow still number one in RPI, and Michigan vaulted to six. Guess the computers like the Hoosiers so much that they only reward the squads that beat them and don't penalize them for the loss.

Lucky, the computers essentially gave them a mulligan, but won't again, as everyone else in the league outside Maryland and now Michigan has horrific metrics. This is a quad one loss, but everyone else in the league outside of Maryland is a quad three, so I would recommend taking care of business if you want a high NCAA seed. 

The committee showed two years ago that when the league was terrible, they would penalize accordingly, giving Hoosiers who were Big Ten Champs no seed and not inviting a single other squad from the conference. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

Michigan looked more athletic than us. Especially their front 3 vs our back 4. We gave them way too much space to carry in, leading to a lot of scoring chances. Michigans faux cramping breaks all second half were infuriating. Hopefully we learn our lesson after this one but this game tells me the more athletic front lines are going to give us fits.

Our team is still special and will be able to do big things but we need to lock up better on D.


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[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Friday evening at 7:00, men (5-1-1) on the road to face the Penn State Nitwitty Lions (2-3-1).  Televised on B1G+.  After last Saturday's disappointing loss to Michigan, need to kick some a$$.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

PSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 8th minute and a header from Josh Maher (his first career goal) tied it 6 minutes later off an assist from Palmer Ault and it remains tied at 1-1 at the break.  Hoosiers 6 shots; 5 on goal; 3 corners.  PSU 6, 2 & 4.

https://x.com/i/status/1969181375891669480

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Midway through the 2nd half and Hoosiers hold a 3-1 lead.  In the second half they've limited PSU to 3 shots; 1 on goal and 1 corner while taking 11 shots of their own; 3 on goal and 6 corners.

58' Palmer Ault off assists from Nesci and Bruletti.   2-1 Hoosiers

https://x.com/i/status/1969197959980957938

 

61' | Palmer Ault again off an assist from Jack Wagoner  3-1 Hoosiers

https://x.com/i/status/1969199024570831124