Game Recap:
It all began at 8:00 PM EST at Bill Armstrong Stadium on a beautiful night in Bloomington, Indiana. The Hoosiers Men’s Soccer Program, ranked 11th, opened their season against the 9th ranked Clemson Tigers. The expectations are high for the Hoosiers this season as the squad, per Coach Yeagley, boasts immense levels of depth and talent.
Judewellin Michel stood between the posts for the Hoosiers amidst significant debate and competition for the goalkeeper spot as we get a glimpse into where Coach Yeagley’s and staff’s heads are at towards the position. Right away, however, the ball was far from Michel, as the Hoosiers pushed forward quickly as stud junior Collins Oduro had an early chance in the first couple of minutes. (Please excuse any errors in the first half minute time stamps. BTN+ did not have a scoreboard or clock until the second half).
Clemson then started to apply some pressure, but nothing stuck. The ball was in Indiana’s defensive half for the next several minutes, but there was constant press from Hoosier red shirts and Clemson couldn’t get anything done. The Hoosiers weathered the storm and counter attacked around the 10th minute and struck a ball off the post – so close to Indiana’s first goal of the 2025 campaign for Palmer Ault.
The 15th minute hits and unfortunately talented sophomore Josh Maher needs to get subbed out due to injury. He tried to play through it, but eventually called for a sub for experienced defender Ben Do. Maher earned accolades as a freshman and is primed for a strong sophomore season, so let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
The game moves back and forth as Clemson and Indiana exchange easily saved shots on target. After some jostling, the Hoosiers push forward into Clemson’s half and call for a hand ball in the box. The refs go to VAR and…it’s called off. Play on. We move forward into the 20th minute.
The Hoosiers press like mad men as we see the first piece of sustained offensive pressure in the game thus far for Indiana. Colton Swan did a great job of holding up play and generating key passes.
The 27th minute hits and newly subbed defender Ben Do has an incredible chance at goal from a corner, but fires it into the keeper’s hands. It’s clear this game has started to find its legs, however.
It’s clear the Hoosiers are fully content to invite pressure from the Tigers and counterattack with speed and force. But they might have invited too much pressure, as Nathan Richmond scored the first goal of the season for the Tigers with a beautiful outside strike, giving Clemson the lead 1-0 in the 30th minute.
40 minutes go by and the Hoosiers haven’t responded as well as you’d like to see following the goal. Passes are a bit sloppy and the attack isn’t quite there. Some promising rushes come for the Hoosiers on occasion, but none present a true threat.
Halftime: 1-0 Clemson leads
And we’re off in half number two. The BTN+ broadcast now has a clock and scoreboard, so the time stamps will be much more accurate.
55 minutes in now and the Hoosiers are being far more intentional about pushing forward and attacking, but are very disjointed and sloppy. Still, it’s a positive sign towards tying up the score.
The sloppiness continued, however, as a poor miscommunication occurs between IU defender Victor Akoum and goalkeeper Michel. The miscommunication forces Michel into a tough situation where a PK is granted to the Tigers. They convert, making it 2-0 to Clemson. Still more than 30 minutes to go.
The next several minutes consisted of the following: Clemson pressures, IU clears it away. That was repeated a few times until Clemson received a 2nd yellow on an IU counter attack, now playing with 10 men with 26 minutes remaining.
Not even 2 minutes after, the Hoosiers earned a penalty which Palmer Ault finished cleanly, making it 2-1 Clemson.
The atmosphere has shifted as now the Hoosiers have hope to earn back this deficit. Playing with a man advantage got the crowd going, then converting on the penalty took the temperature up even further.
15 minutes remain and the Hoosiers are certainly attacking, but the continued sloppiness combined with Clemson time wasting has led to not much going the Hoosiers’ way. The Hoosiers are continuing to work hard, however.
9 minutes left on the clock and hope is falling by the second. Then, a beautiful strike comes in from Jacopo Fedrizzi for a Hoosiers GOAL! He finished inside the box with a confident ball in the back of the net. Count it! 2-2, all tied up now.
2 minutes remain and the Hoosiers continue to press on intensely. Clemson is burning clock so the Hoosiers may only have one or two more chances left. They’ve worked their wings significantly this game, often targeting Collins Oduro. If Indiana is to score soon, he might be their man.
Clemson successfully time wasted and the match ends 2-2. For two high powered programs, this proved to be a very entertaining finish.
Hoosiers Player of the Match:
Palmer Ault. Palmer scored the Hoosiers’ first goal of the game via a penalty and was all around Clemson’s box for the full 90 minutes. Ault is one of the best players in the country and it definitely showed in this season opener. Secondary and tertiary shouts go to Collins Oduro for running tirelessly all around the pitch and generally being a menace to defend and Jacopo Fedrizzi for tying up the match with a fabulous strike in his first game as a Hoosier.
Key Takeaway:
The Hoosiers played hard. They certainly were not lazy. They worked hard and showed passion. For most of the game, however, the play was a bit sloppy and disjointed. The BTN+ broadcast crew regularly mentioned Indiana needing to “shake the rust off”, which I’d agree with. There were some sparks and exciting moments, but much of the game was the Hoosiers making mistakes and attacks falling short.
Then, the game shifted, as soccer often does. Clemson gets a second yellow, Indiana converts a penalty, and the momentum flips entirely. Indiana shows promise, attacking prowess, and intense effort – even stronger than before. The Hoosiers tied it up as Jacopo Fedrizzi scored and the team and crowd went wild.
For a team that spent much of the game playing sloppy soccer, it is a huge testament in will power for these Hoosiers to come back and tie the game. If this tells you anything about this Indiana team, it’s to never count them out. They fought incredibly hard and should be proud with their gutsy performance overall all things considered.
Be on the lookout for more Indiana University Soccer content here at Hoosier Huddle throughout the season!
Other IU Soccer Reads: Men’s Season Preview