It's game day in St. Louis. Despite a lack of coverage from the program itself and the media at large leading up to the season, the Star came through with an article this morning: https://www.indystar.com/story/spor...success-in-modern-college-sports/74893880007/ Happy fall, everyone.
It was brutal. We didn't have any real offense all night long - so much for the transfers. SLU's keeper was very good and SLU had most of the posession all game. This is not the team that beat #24 Louisville 4-0 in exhibition. I forsee a rocky start for the Hoosiers.
I didn't watch too closely, but I agree with the sentiment. With that being said, over the last few years it feels like we've been slow starters and then get it figured out as we get through the conference season. Hopefully this is just a result of trying to integrate a few new guys in core spots.
I received an email from Indiana Soccer Association yesterday with a subject line referencing "In-State Rivalry!" Naturally, I assumed it was for tonight's game. Nope. It's about IU/Butler next week. LOL.
A very exciting game between ND and IU was marred by a terrible decision by the referee. He blew his whistle as we threw the ball in from touch, so our player picked up the ball. The center called him for a hand ball. Coaches, players, and fans were livid. The subsequent free kick was converted into the tying goal by ND. Horrible refereeing.
? He did blow the whistle for reasons nobody could decipher. He then made the situation much worse w/ the free kick.
Hopefully it was a learning opportunity early in the season. Refs are going to make bad calls, but you have to stay focused. I don't remember it being a great FK following the snafu, more lack of marking the runner.
A fairly comfortable win. After years of being denied by the woodwork, Tommy Mihalic's luck is changing. He converted a PK in the first half and the Sarver to Mihalic service got him his second goal. Nesci, a freshman, is showing that he's the real deal. Stewart, another freshman, played the entire second half and was also impressive.
A comedy of errors. Another draw. Seems like this happens to us every time we play at Butler. We started off fairly strong, McDonald scoring a screamer from about 22 yards out. That was followed by a very intentional handball by Butler in the box. Mihalic tried to pooch the pk up the middle, but put it well over the goal. All downhill from there. In the second half, Barger got isolated against a Butler forward and tried to milk a foul - but didn't get it. Easy goal for Butler. We are changing lineups every game in an attempt to find some offensive chemistry, but so far we've failed to react. We are constantly trying to go over the top, but to no avail. Maybe go through the midfield w/ our three seasoned midfielders (McDonald, Sarver, Mihalic) rather than just "punt and pray?"
I watched the first half live, and based on that, I went to bed before the second half. I did put the second half on in the background this morning when I got to the office. Doesn't look like I missed anything good. Maybe more attacking chances, but still no goals. This team hasn't been fun to watch so far this season...
And last night it got worse - much worse. We lost 2-0 to Dayton at home. We looked sluggish and clueless. We had a total of 3 shots, none of them on goal, in the first half. Dayton had a very good counterattack which we simply couldn't stop. Some of this was attributable to the strength of the "United Nations of Dayton" roster w/ 14 internationals, ave. age about 22-23. We're still looking for that elusive forward who can score. Also looking for an outside back who doesn't get consistently burned. If Harms sends another clearance or goal kick into touch I will go nuts!
It wasn't pretty, but we got a B1G road win against Rutgers. We pretty much dominated in terms of possession and shots (/on goal), but it took a looooong time to get a goal - in the 87th minute. As one would expect, McDonald passed the ball to Sarver, who beat his man to the goal line and served up a juicy pass to Mihalic, who easily put it away. We had some chances before. Mihalic hit the post early and Sarver hit the crossbar shortly after. Weiss hit a sitter right at the GK ten minutes into the second half. Rutgers isn't a strong team and I was hoping for a more inspiring game/win, but we got 3 out of it and that's all that matters at this point.
Yep. Given the way the season has gone so far, 3 points is 3 points. The fact that we kept them out is a positive development. DW says Sarver is the only danger man she sees in this team. Gotta get him the ball whenever possible. It's just too bad about his hair. Ha.
IU v Evansville: We looked pretty good against the United Nations of Evansville (8 int'l starters) in the first half, but we then subbed extensibly and didn't really pose many threats early in the second. That gave the Aces some momentum and they tied the game w/ a nice strike. Once again, we outshot E'ville 20-6 w/ 5 SOG vs 2 for the Aces. We had 9 corners. FWIW, the foul ratio was 24-6 in favor of the Aces. We just can't put the ball in the net. Weiss once again didn't score, hitting another sitter from the 5 at a defender. I understand that he's been playing hurt, so I guess I should be understanding. In other news, Wisconsin is looking scary good.
Another stinker against Maryland. Soft penalty, weather delay, morning finish... everything you don't want in a conference game.
Yeah, it was a very soft penalty (a dive), but we need to start scoring. IMHO, the guys who can score (our experienced midfielders, three of which shoot accurate, heavy shots) are not doing so - always passing to our forwards who can't score.