The 11th-ranked Indiana men’s soccer team fell to conference opponent Michigan Friday night at Armstrong Stadium by a score of 2-1.
After relinquishing an early 1-0 lead, the Hoosiers had many chances to tie the game, but consistently missed opportunities or were called offside. Luck, it seemed, was also against the Hoosiers, as one late-game shot from the foot of Eriq Zavaleta seemed to be undoubtedly destined for the net, but was blocked by Indiana midfielder A.J. Corrado, who could not get out of the way in time. This came moments after Nikita Kotlov’s would-be tying goal was taken away due to him being offside. In all, the Hoosiers were called offside eight times.
“It was just one of those games where we keep shaking our heads, thinking, ‘what happened?’” said junior defender Matt McKain, who also saw a prime opportunity get away when his early uncontested shot sailed wide left of the goal.
The Hoosiers were aggressive on offense throughout most of the match, but Michigan’s defense was physical and stifling, highlighted by a terrific performance from goalkeeper Adam Grinwis, who finished the match with seven saves.
The first goal of the match came when Femi Hollinger-Janzen came off the bench and scored on his first touch. The Wolverines answered, however, as Tyler Arnone beat Indiana keeper Luis Soffner for a goal with which Indiana Head Coach Todd Yeagley was particularly “displeased.”
“I thought we had poor principles on that,” Yeagley said. “That was probably Luis’—of the one’s this year—maybe the first one that you could say he could do better with.… Luis’s been good for us this year; [it was] just one of those nights that Luis doesn’t have the big save when we need it.”
The Wolverines’ second goal came shortly after halftime when James Murphy sent a ground ball into the right corner of the net past Soffner’s dive.
“We didn’t play poorly, but again, we weren’t super-sharp when we needed to be,” Yeagley said.
Despite the loss, Indiana remains in control of their Big Ten destiny, but relinquishes the conference lead to Northwestern (10-2-2), who will face the Hoosiers in Bloomington on November 1st.
“Mathematically, we feel good about where we are,” Yeagley remarked. “We always felt it would potentially come down to [Indiana and Northwestern].”
Indiana falls to 10-3-2 on the season, while Michigan improves to 5-7-1.
The Hoosiers will look to rebound on Wednesday, October 24th, as they welcome the Evansville Purple Aces to Armstrong Stadium at 7 p.m.
