IU Hoosiers 2025

Well, it's that time again. Today was the first practice. We get off to a flying start, playing #9 Clemson. The adidas/IU Credit Union Classic is no longer the early tournament between highly ranked teams that it used to be. Rather, we play Green Bay and Oregon State four days apart. We follow that up with SLU and ND, both curiously unranked.

We have quite a few transfers this year, including AJ Piela from L'ville, Ben Do from Penn, Cristiano Bruletti from MSU, Victor Akoum from UVA, Jacopo Fedrizzi from E'ville, and Palmer Ault from Butler. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess.

 

BUT... It (Labor Day Holiday) is a three day weekend, so they could play Friday and then on Monday (Labor Day), same number of rest days as the current 8/31 - 9/3 format. That would allow the parents to see both games without losing an entire week of work (or whatever). Plus, the two IU opponents don't play each other as in the past.

 

Welcome! Remember that there will be tailgates on site for weekend games (just northwest of Armstrong) and "virtual tailgates" at a local restaurant/bar on week night games. We've never lost a tailgate!

 

I went. It's hard to recap something like this. Everyone was working hard, especially in the first two periods. We were passing very well and were dangerous for all 120. Remember, it was 90 degrees down there.

There were a few times when we allowed WMU to keep extended possession (which scared me), but we were very efficient and put away our chances. Goal of the night for me was when Murador crossed to the six, somebody dummied it at the six, which allowed Swan to tuck in the cross. I hope I got that right - the area was packed on that play.

Our defense, shored up by transfer Akoum (a big 6'3"/195) at center back alongside of Maher, looked strong, especially in the air (for once). We didn't have a lot of set pieces (exhibition = no autopsy, no foul), but I'm looking forward to our bigs to get on the end of some crosses or corners.

GKs looked very good. Brow played the first (and second?) period(s) and looked good, as did 6'5" freshman Michel (I'm sure he's actually bigger than that).

Ultimately, everyone got in. Reidell scored just 15 seconds after coming on.

Looking forward to Saturday against L'ville. That'll give us a much better idea of how good we are.

 

Very pleasant warm, muggy night. We did 45-45-20 minute periods last night against Louisville with lots of lineup changes. We were all over them from the beginning. No real point in listing the goal scorers - the goals were all easily classified as "team goals." Relentless penetration on the flanks. Most of the crosses were on the ground with a few in the air. The defense was solid and our GKs, although they weren't tested a lot, acquitted themselves well. We have some freshmen who are playing like upperclassmen right now. I hope it continues!

A couple of things that I've noticed: 1) We are scary fast. Not just a few of our players, but most of them, especially on both wings. It put tremendous pressure on the UoL defense. 2) We are not a one- or two-trick pony like last year. There are a lot of players who can get dangerous quickly and we certainly have more players who can score this year.

Of course, it's possible that I'll change my tune after Thursday, but we'll just have to wait.

 

Very entertaining game in front of a huge crowd (6,395; 3rd largest in our history). Although Clemson scored the first two goals, we were unlucky on two occasions when we hit the post, including Oduro's shot in the first minute of play. Both teams battled very hard. Our defense was a little shakey in this game - defensive mistakes cost us both goals. I'm sure that will be a point of emphasis in the coming practices.

However, we clawed our way back into the game in the second half. It didn't hurt that Clemson went a man down in the 64th minute. The second yellow to Agyabeng was deserved. Clemson did a lot of hacking and pulling from behind all game and it caught up to them. We scored our first goal on a PK by Ault. The second goals was a great volley by Fedrizzi on a nice cross from Kinsella.

One thing is certain - it's not clear which team was the better one. These are two fine teams that should do well this season. For the record, Clemson started 8 internationals while IU started 4.

 

Phew.

Last night's game against USF was much the same as the Clemson game - our first half sucked and our defense wasn't up to the task at hand. This led to a shakeup in our back line which ultimately consisted of youngsters Barger (Jr), Minzey (R-Jr), Gaydosh (R-Fr), and Kinsella (R-Fr) from left to right. I should mention that we have two injuries (Maher, Heuer) that have impacted our play, but the entire team once again played poorly the entire first half. I understand that some harsh words were used in the locker room at half time. There were also some wholesale changes made in the lineup, which ultimately made the difference. Fedrizzi is scoring the goals (last night 2, both assisted by Oduro). Our offensive resurgence occurred largely because Bogard (Soph) and Kinsella (Fr) are hungry and talented - and they work hard. It's fitting that Bogey scored the winner off an assist by Kinsella.

USF's center back, #4 Duggan, is impressive. I'd love to have him in our back line.

Looking forward to IU playing a full 90 minutes.

 

We really need to shore up our defense, especially in the first half. GB goal came from an unchallenged cross to a forward standing all alone between two defenders, neither of whom were close to him. That can't happen. If it continues to happen, we'll have a short season.

 

Well, we didn't give up a goal(s) in the first half. In fact, we only allowed OSU one shot in the first half (in the 44th minute). We got a goal on a handball PK in the first w/ Ault putting it away. In the second half we got another right out of halftime, with Nesci crossing the ball to Ault for an easy goal. As is typical, we took our foot (feet?) off the gas after the second goal and allowed OSU more possession and more shots - 16 in the second half, although few had any sting. I'd like us to display a little more of a killer instinct, but that's about it.

OSU seemed to pick on Barger down their right side, but it didn't work. Barger was up to the task. He had a nice game. Our subs helped to keep the pressure on and, in my opinion, helped to tire the OSU side out.

We welcome SLU next on the last of our five game home stand.

 

We DID NOT deserve to win that game. This time, rather than sitting out the first half, we decided to go full force in the first half and then sleep walk through the second. SLU were VERY unlucky not to have scored 2-3 goals, including 2 that involved a scrum right on our goal line.

I've mentioned that our back line needs to step up and not give up easy goals, but last night they were joined by our midfield. They didn't seem to want it very much. Many missed passes, poor traps, and a general malaise in the midfield.

We can't just rely on luck - we have to work harder.

On to ND.

 

This one we DID deserve to win. Despite a little home cookin', we got revenged for last year's (deserved) defeat at the hands of the Irish.