Indiana Outlasts Evansville in an Ugly 3-0 Win

Indiana men’s soccer moved to 2-0 on the year after a win over Evansville in a foul ridden contest. Indiana’s defense was the star of the outing, preventing Evansville from gaining any ground. Indiana was masterful in controlling possession and preventing any Evansville attacking opportunity. Oliver Moller-Jensen continued his stellar start to the season as Indiana cruised to the 3-0 victory.

Indiana started the game off quickly, gaining the first shot of the game with Wes Carnevale. Evansville, however, would grab the first shot on goal of the game. Evansville would attempt to park the bus throughout the game, with the goal of preventing Indiana’s attack from breaking through.

This strategy would prevail for 33 minutes, but then Indiana’s lethal attack got on the board. Nolan Kinsella’s shot was deflected into Charlie Heuer’s legs, where he delivered the first goal of the game. Kinsella was awarded the assist as Hoosiers go up by one.

The rest of the half would drag, as Evansville was unable to find an equalizer. Indiana came out of the half with an aggressive mindset. They had several opportunities that were squandered, but finally broke through in the 65th minute. Oliver Moller-Jensen passed a beautiful through ball to Easton Bogard who grabbed his second goal of the season.

Indiana maintained the aggressive mindset, finally grabbing their third goal of the game with five minutes remaining. Moller-Jensen added his third goal of the season with his strike as Indiana took the game-sealing 3-0 lead.

Takeaways From Indiana’s Win

Indiana looked sharp once again, improving upon what they started against Notre Dame. In the Notre Dame game, Indiana eased off the gas towards the end of the affair, but in this game, the Hoosiers played a complete game.

Michael Mroz had his first clean sheet of the season against his former team, where he was the MVC player of the year. In this one, he didn’t have to do much, but he saved the two shots on goal that came his way. The defense was stellar, squeezing away any Evansville chances.

Indiana didn’t play their best ball throughout, especially on the offensive end. This game, Indiana felt the loss of forwards Stephane Njike and Collins Oduro more than they had against Notre Dame. Indiana was great in the midfield when controlling possession, but couldn’t turn good opportunities into more goals.

Oliver Moller-Jensen was slotted into the midfield for this game, and it was an effective change. While he is a great winger, his passing was the most important part of his game. He was amazing when taking corners, and when setting up good goal opportunities inside of the box.

Indiana was improved at possessing the ball and setting up offense. Their defenders delivered good punt passes, while the midfield was solid when possessing the ball in tighter areas.

Whats Next for Indiana

Indiana will now face their third straight in-state opponent in the Butler Bulldogs. Expect Indiana to improve their shot-to-shot-on-goal ratio throughout this game to set up their season for the future. Indiana will likely be at full strength, at least in attack, soon when Njike and Oduro heal from their injuries.

Indiana’s defense has been the standout unit of the team, but the offense will be coming. This team is certainly worth getting excited about this Fall.