Indiana Strikes Early in 2-0 win Over the Mustangs

Indiana men’s soccer looked to bounce back after their draw against Louisville. Indiana came in with a 3-0-1 record, facing another undefeated opponent in the Cal Poly Mustangs with a 1-0-3 record. Indiana came in as the sixth-ranked team in the nation.

It was a hot night tonight, especially early before the sun set, but the Hoosiers weren’t daunted by the heat. Indiana’s offense exploded on a breakaway immediately that lead to a Clay Murador shot. His shot was saved, but on the ricochet, Oliver Moller-Jensen picked up his fourth goal of the young season. Murador picked up the assist, and Indiana was up 1-0 in the second minute.

In minute eight, the Hoosier offense saw their first corner. It was defended well by the Mustangs, but it caused a second corner. The second corner was punched out cleanly by the Cal Poly goalkeeper.

The rest of the game started to play even, with Indiana having a slight edge and holding onto their one-goal lead. That lead would be tested quickly as Michael Mroz was tested by a cross, but he delivered a great punch-out to keep his clean sheet.

In minute 30, Indiana would be tested and fail the test. Cal Poly delivered a beautiful cross and a shot that they thought would be the equalizer, but the refs called it offside. After a review, the call stood.

Indiana then took full advantage of this review to regroup their offense. They got an attack going, resulting in a corner. Indiana let Alex Barger kick the corner, and he delivered a beautiful cross that just reached over Cal Poly’s goalkeeper and into the legs of Wes Carnevale. Carnevale buried the goal, and the Hoosiers lead 2-0 after minute 31.

Cal Poly would have their last attempt in the half in minute 43, but Nick McHenry was there to make a stellar block and keep Indiana up 2-0 at halftime.

In the second half, Indiana came out of the gate swinging once again, but this time it wasn’t goal-worthy. The attack ended in a potential penalty, but it was called off after review.

The action would slow down significantly as Cal Poly started to take over. The Mustangs controlled most of the possession, but Indiana wouldn’t allow anything to break through. Indiana seemed to be content with their lead as the clock winded down.

In the 71st minute, Cal Poly had a corner, but Indiana swallowed it up, leading to a goal kick.

The Hoosiers started to win possession again as they had a close look at the net in the 76th minute, but the attack was left empty. Moller-Jensen grabbed a shot after that in the 77th minute, but it sailed over the net.

Indiana had a breakaway in minute 80, but it was called offside, and was then followed by a wave of substitutions, as IU could smell their victory.

In the 82nd minute, Indiana continued its search for a third goal as Dempsey Resich took a shot, but it was blocked by the Cal Poly defense.

At minute 84, Michael Mroz swallowed up a beautiful cross from Cal Poly, keeping the clean sheet. Nolan Kinsella appeared to be hurt in play, but was able to walk off the field on his own. His day would be done.

Mroz would get another save in the 85th minute, but this time the ball was kicked right at him. Cal Poly continued to apply late-game pressure in search of their first goal. Mroz wasn’t allowing anything, though, as his goaltending really stood out late in this affair.

Bogard had a good look on net in the 88th minute, but it was blocked, leading to another Indiana corner. The corner was defended well, but Indiana maintained possession. Indiana played it into the box, and Bogard was tripped up, but no call was made immediately. After the fourth review of the game the call stood, and play resumed with 59 seconds left on the clock.

Indiana would eventually claim their fourth win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Cal Poly.

Takeaways

Once again, what stood out the most was the Hoosier defense. The backline did a great job of limiting attacks, and Mroz had his best goalkeeping performance of the season. Indiana’s defense also did a great job of playing clean soccer, as they only had three fouls, to Cal Poly’s 15.

The offense wasn’t perfect, but it was better than the Louisville game. Indiana did a better job of possessing the ball in the attacking third and turned that into 12 shots. The issue was that only three of those were on goal.

Indiana came out of the gate swinging with its minute-two goal. They then got another goal in the first half, but failed to find a third goal. Many opportunities, but they weren’t efficient enough with their chances, and it resulted in only three shots on goal.

As a whole, it was a strong performance, but the offense will need to level up their game if Indiana wants to continue to win as they have been. Indiana will face off against Denver on Monday.