IU Men's Soccer News and Notes

[BtownStrength]

30 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Huge game. Solid opponent on the road. Gonna be a tough one. 

Michigan St hosts Rutgers and Washington hosts Maryland as well. While we are the only one om the road, all 3 co-leaders have tough tests. 3 points would be incredible in terms of RPI and conference. 

[TheWatShot]

3-1 win at UCLA. Tied with Washington for first with MSU at home Wednesday night. Win that one and we do no worse than tie for the Big Ten title. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

First home loss for UCLA on the season. Big win. We played great!

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Pretty amazing that our Hoosiers had just 5 total shots but made 3 of them count.  UCLA 9 shots, 4 on goal.

 

 

 

 

[Brass Cannon]

8 hours ago, TheWatShot said:

3-1 win at UCLA. Tied with Washington for first with MSU at home Wednesday night. Win that one and we do no worse than tie for the Big Ten title. 

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7 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

First home loss for UCLA on the season. Big win. We played great!

Hopefully UCLA can bounce back and get a win against Washington to close out the season. And then we just need to take care against MSU. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

And our goalie wasn't too bad either.

 

 

[Aaron]

This game was a perfect example of the difference between adequate and elite goalie play. Since Roman Celentano, IU has had merely adequate goaltending, but Mroz finally gives them an elite presence between the pipes once again. JT Harms had great instincts but was simply too small to stretch out for the hardest shots during his tenure. On the flip side, Holden Brown had the size but lacked proper instincts, which is arguably even worse. Mroz finally provides both size and instinct.

Post-Celentano, that would have been a 2-2 game in the second half; neither of IU's last two keepers makes the specific save that kept the Hoosiers up 2-1. A great team needs its goalie to make at least one eye-popping, game-saving stop to bail out an otherwise strong defense. The team hasn't gotten that since Celentano went pro in 2022, which is precisely why they started conceding multiple goals a game. Now, IU is back to giving up one or zero because they have a truly elite keeper back in net.

Listening to the UCLA announcer on BTN+ last night (who was actually quite good), he knew the moment Mroz made that crucial stop to prevent the equalizer that the Bruins probably wouldn't get another clean look the rest of the night. Over the past few seasons, that would have been just one of several chances for an opponent until the dam eventually broke. It also helps that IU’s back line is playing much better to support Mroz compared to the last couple of years.

Critically, IU fans can finally feel confident if a match goes to a penalty shootout in the Big Ten or NCAA Tournament. While shootouts are often dismissed as a lottery, it is no accident that the Hoosiers won every single postseason PK shootout during Trey Muse and Roman Celentano's combined five years in goal—both consistently came up with two saves a piece when it mattered most in shootouts. Conversely, the team dropped every single shootout when Harms, Colin Webb, or Christian Lomeli were in net. The lone exception was in 2014, when Northwestern self-destructed against Webb by blasting a couple of shots over the bar, rather than Webb actually making a save.

Mroz’s presence almost guarantees at least one or two saves in those high-stakes PK moments, mirroring Muse and Celentano. Harms, Webb, and Lomeli rarely, if ever, stopped a PK; they simply lacked the frame to cover the entire goal, allowing opponents to easily slot the ball into the corners or fake them out.

 

[BtownStrength]

As of yesterday, 181 schools have voted to block the year-round schedule. Only 60 more votes are needed to stay at fall only. Let's hope common sense prevails (seems unlikely in any college sport endeavor) and the votes fall short. 

[Aaron]

20 minutes ago, BtownStrength said:

As of yesterday, 181 schools have voted to block the year-round schedule. Only 60 more votes are needed to stay at fall only. Let's hope common sense prevails (seems unlikely in any college sport endeavor) and the votes fall short. 

This is just latest symptom of NCAA being broken and running a communist setup of mid-majors and P5 being forced to compete under same rules. Also, giving athletic directors who don't even play men's soccer a vote is another symptom of NCAA being broken.

This will fix a major issue under new model for soccer but not larger issue of how NCAA still governs. 

[8bucks]

9 hours ago, BtownStrength said:

As of yesterday, 181 schools have voted to block the year-round schedule. Only 60 more votes are needed to stay at fall only. Let's hope common sense prevails (seems unlikely in any college sport endeavor) and the votes fall short. 

Coach seemed in favor of it when I heard him bring it up last year. It seemed a good idea to me. 

[BtownStrength]

34 minutes ago, 8bucks said:

Coach seemed in favor of it when I heard him bring it up last year. It seemed a good idea to me. 

Big Ten and ACC teams love it. Many mid majors have voted against. And as Aaron stated, universities without men's soccer also get a vote, which is asinine. Lets hope it passes.