Indiana Soccer Grinds Out a Draw with the Badgers

Indiana soccer (7-0-1) played its third match in Big Ten play, as the Hoosiers went on the road to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin came in at 5-1-1 on the year, as the no. 13-ranked team in the nation.

It was a gritty defensive game, which was to be expected, as the Badgers and Indiana might have the best two defenses in the league. In the end the game was a war, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

The tone was set immediately as Indiana got the game’s first shot off a free kick, and Wisconsin picked up two yellow cards within five minutes of play. The culprits were both of Wisconsin’s elite center-backs, who would have great games despite the cards. The game would be a bit chippy, but never too much, as nobody would pick up the dreaded red card.

Indiana and Wisconsin played evenly throughout much of the first half, as neither could break through the other’s backline. Possession isn’t a stat tracked at the collegiate level, but if it were, it would’ve been roughly even.

The bright spot on Indiana’s offense was that star forward Stephane Njike felt extremely comfortable in his role. He was able to break through for some good looks in the second half, just none of them were on net.

At halftime, the game was knotted up at nil-nil.

The second half would see most of the action. In the 56th minute, Indiana would have a free kick from their attacking third. The IU set piece led to a ball scramble, where it eventually hit the foot of defender Nolan Kinsella. Kinsella had not had a goal all season, but he buried one in the net off his lethal right foot. IU led 1-0.

This lead wouldn’t be one that the Hoosiers could hold.

With Wisconsin now needing offensive urgency, the Badgers started to take over possession. They got two shots in this stretch, one of which IU’s goalkeeper Michael Mroz saved. Mroz earned the honors of Big Ten goalkeeper of the week for his efforts in Indiana’s win over Washington.

Unfortunately for Indiana, Mroz couldn’t save the next shot that came his way. Defender Isaac Brown Samper was able to bury a shot into the bottom right of the net, squeaking past Mroz. The equalizer was hit in the 68th minute, making it 1-1.

There were still 20 minute left for these teams to scramble to get a game winner.

The largest opportunity came all the way down to 30 seconds left in the game. Indiana had full possession of the ball, making it so that they either win or get a tie. Indiana played it in to Collins Oduro on the right side of the box. He then crossed it over to Oliver Moller-Jensen, who has been the Hoosiers’ leading goal scorer this season. Moller-Jensen’s right foot has been a weapon for IU, but this time if whiffs, and the Hoosiers don’t even get a shot off.

The game ends in a 1-1 tie.

Takeaways

Indiana showed that its defense is still the most dominant unit in the sport, but its attack still needs work. The Badger defense is legit, as they now have only allowed five goals all season, but Indiana needs to be more efficient with the shots they take.

Indiana had 12 shots in the game. That isn’t enough, but what is worse is that they only had three on goal. This Hoosiers team has the defense to go far in the tournament, but the offense leaves a bit to be desired. It was another day where the Hoosiers were outshot as well. This time it was 15-12.

Mroz is still a great goalkeeper, but the backline does a great job of making his job easy. Mroz can be a star in this game, but the Hoosier backline does a great job of never putting him in the spots to even need to live up to his potential.

Indiana wanted to get better at set pieces coming into the day, and they scored off of one. One of head coach Todd Yeagley’s main goals was to improve at set pieces; the 56th minute goal by Kinsella proved that the Hoosiers had improved in this game.

Indiana will play their next game, back at home on Friday against Penn State.