Game Recap and Takeaways:
The 19th ranked Indiana Hoosiers Men’s Soccer Program defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday evening by a score of 5-0 at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. This was the final game of the regular season and became a must-win game for the Hoosiers to keep their Big Ten Tournament hopes alive, but unfortunately they still were unable to qualify.
The Big Ten shrunk down its field to just four teams making the tournament each year and, unfortunately due to Indiana’s past roller coaster games in Big Ten play, their win against Rutgers was not enough to seal the deal. Indiana needed UCLA to lose or draw and unfortunately, UCLA won 4-2 over Washington. These results put the Hoosiers in 5th place in the Big Ten with a conference record of 5-5-0 (W/L/D) and an overall record of 12-5-1, good enough to be ranked #19 in the country.
The Hoosiers end their regular season with success, all things considered. They will receive a bid to be in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament and have all the pieces to make a run in said tournament. 48 teams make the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament and the Hoosiers – again ranked 19th in the country – will be one of those teams.
It hurts to miss out on the Big Ten Tournament, but the Hoosiers put themselves in this position by dropping points to lesser opponents in Big Ten play. Hopefully, getting those losses out ahead of time will serve the Hoosiers well in facing strong competition in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament and, if things go well, the College Cup Finals.
Keeping track of dates, the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament Selection Show will take place on Monday, November 17. Following that, the first round begins on Thursday, November 20 and runs from there until the Men’s College Cup takes place in Cary, North Carolina. Those dates will be Friday, December 12 for the Final Four matchups and Monday, December 15 for the National Championship game. If all goes right, the Hoosiers will be lifting the trophy as an early Christmas present.
Hoosiers Player of the Match:
Against Rutgers specifically, we saw a mastery of offensive play from the Hoosiers. Palmer Ault tallied a goal and two assists, Jacopo Fedrizzi added two assists to his total, Charlie Heuer pocketed two assists, Breckin Minzey scored a goal, Clay Murador found the back of the net as well, and Cristiano Bruletti also added an assist.
With the massive scoring output all around, it is tough to pick a Player of the Match. However, the one player we haven’t mentioned yet is freshman Colton Swan, who scored two beautiful goals, one from outside of the box and one with a header, winning our Hoosiers Player of the Match award for this game in the process.
To paraphrase Head Coach Todd Yeagley’s words in a preseason interview, he showered Swan with praise, saying that he is one of the best players in the air that he’s seen in a very long time. Swan was able to bring that praise to fruition on Friday, converting on his 3rd goal of the year (and 2nd of the game) with the aforementioned header you see below.
Other IU Soccer Reads:
–IU Men’s Soccer Season Preview