No. 2 Indiana men’s soccer delivered one of its most complete performances of the season Friday night, taking down No. 6 Maryland, 3-1, at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The Hoosiers controlled the opening half and built a two goal lead through an own goal and a Charlie Heuer finish. They would go up 3-1 in the second half with a Stephane Njike goal against his former team, then relied on goalkeeper Michal Mroz’s late penalty save to close out a major win.
Indiana finished with a 16-12 advantage in shots and put seven attempts on target. Maryland generated seven corner kicks and threw good pressure at the Hoosiers in the second half, but IU’s defense consistently made key stops and Mroz came through when Maryland had its clearest chance to make the final minutes tense.
Indiana opened the scoring in the 17th minute. Easton Bogard crossed it to Oliver Moller-Jensen who took a shot but didn’t make good contact, a sliding Maryland defender accidentally kept the play alive with a kick that deflected off another Maryland defenders chest, found the right pipe and bounced in, labeled an own goal on Maryland.
The Hoosiers doubled their lead three minutes later.
Bogard created another dangerous chance, and Heuer crashed into the area before selling out for a shot that found the bottom left corner. The goal gave Indiana a 2-0 lead and rewarded a first half in which the Hoosiers chose the pace.
Maryland threatened early off consecutive corner kicks in the 11th minute, but its best chance went wide. Mroz also came up with key first-half saves, including stops on Rocket Ritarita in the 34th minute and Marco Wright in the 44th, preserving Indiana’s two-goal lead at halftime.
The Terrapins came out with more urgency after the break and controlled long stretches of possession early in the second half. Indiana’s defense absorbed the pressure, however, and the Hoosiers answered with the decisive goal in the 63rd minute.
Njike made it 3-0 against his former team. Collins Oduro had a shot stopped before Bogard helped keep the attack alive, and Njike settled the ball before firing a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner. He followed the goal with a roundoff backflip celebration in front of the home crowd.
Njike finished with one goal, one assist, four shots and two shots on goal. Bogard recorded two assists, while Oduro also added an assist on Njike’s goal.
Maryland cut the deficit in the 71st minute when Rodrigo Neri scored off the attacking sequence following a corner, making it 3-1. The Terrapins continued to push and were awarded a penalty kick after a VAR review in the 87th minute.
Neri stepped to the spot with a chance to pull Maryland within one, but Mroz made a diving save to his right to preserve the two-goal lead. Indiana survived the following Maryland pressure and finished off the 3-1 win.
Mroz ended the night with five saves. Neri led Maryland with five shots and scored the Terrapins’ lone goal, but Indiana’s back line of Nolan Kinsella, Josh Maher, Nick McHenry and Alex Barger held firm throughout the night.
The win is a statement result for an unbeaten Indiana team against one of the top opponents on its schedule.
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