Indiana Survives Final Minutes At Notre Dame, Draws 1-1 In Season Opener With Oduro's Goal

Indiana's season began Thursday night in South Bend. Once freshman Collins Oduro tallied the equalizer in the 28th minute, the Hoosiers survived scares throughout the rest of the match, especially late. In the last few minutes, Notre Dame applied pressure with countless set pieces, but the Hoosiers held on for the draw in muggy conditions.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It was an awkward leaping play, but had Indiana goalkeeper JT Harms caught the ball, the team’s 1-1 season-opening draw Thursday at Notre Dame would’ve ended peacefully. Fewer than 40 seconds remained, without overtime periods on the way. The NCAA made that change to regular season matches last year. 

The worst the Hoosiers could do was send everyone forward in their last-ditch attempt to miraculously steal the win at the death from the Fighting Irish. Rather, Notre Dame nearly found the match-winner. Harms muffed the catch mentioned above beside Indiana's goal. Notre Dame's Eno Nto recovered the loose ball and fired. 

The shot seemed to be going in, if not for Indiana midfielder Patrick McDonald heading the ball away at the back post. Harms desperately searched for the ball in the air and sent his own teammate, Tommy Mihalic, to the ground whilst in the process of punching it away. Subsequently, the Fighting Irish's last corner kick in the waning seconds was ineffective. At last, everyone – from fans to players – could breathe. 

"I thought JT could have handled that one," Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said post-draw. "I'm sure he knows he feels that way too. We seal the game at that point, or we get a chance down the field, which we didn't, but we held on. Held on and didn't panic and... again, those are moments [that] are good for our young guys to get. Feeling pressured late in games, we got to make a play. You got to get through this."

Indiana never led during the match in South Bend, falling behind early in the 25th minute 1-0, following the goal from Notre Dame's Paddy Burns. The Fighting Irish score resulted from their distanced free kick, which Harms poached from his line, only for the ball to slip right over him. The veteran captain wasn't shaken, however, making an outstanding save early into the second half. Notre Dame had caught Indiana napping, speedily punting the team's free kick to set up the Matthew Roou breakaway. 

Indiana's deficit only lasted for three minutes, though. In the 28th, freshman forward Collins Oduro and outside midfielder Sam Sarver played an excellent give-and-go to each other, splitting Notre Dame's back line. Oduro smashed the ball to the bottom right corner, and though Notre Dame's keeper Bryan Dowd got his hands on it, the ball trickled past the goal line for the equalizer in the freshman's regular-season debut. Oduro had shown off his control and scoring ability in preseason scrimmages.

28' | The freshman squeezes it in!@Collinso_11 | #IUMS pic.twitter.com/strZRX6RHG

— Indiana Men's Soccer (@IndianaMSOC) August 25, 2023

In the last five minutes of the match, Notre Dame abruptly snatched the momentum. Indiana didn't have one shot in that span. One Notre Dame free or corner kick turned into another, and another, and more. It was an endless cycle that the Hoosiers couldn't seem to break, mainly because their first priority was clearing the ball out of trouble. Yeagley said the team's functional clearing down the stretch wasn't great. The muggy conditions all night in South Bend didn't seem to help the goalkeepers, either.

"This was one of the most difficult weather conditions I've seen in a lot of years, honestly," Yeagley said. "Usually it's hot this time here, but this was about as muggy as you could possibly play in... The ball got a lot of moisture tonight. So, JT had a couple I thought he should have handled but their keeper kind of bobbled a few as well. Tough conditions for the keeper from the standpoint of the moisture." 

Still, only two goals went in total, and both sides withstood many more. Hoosier fans in attendance held their breath three separate times when Oduro's shots just went wide. After that, Indiana was on the defensive late, though held on for the 1-1 draw. 

Notre Dame was very foul happy throughout the match, committing 17 to Indiana's 10. Yeagley, though, would have preferred if his team generated more corner kicks on top of the set pieces from fouls, as the Hoosiers were out-cornered 7-3. The ones they did have were taken by Quinten Helmer, who was previously injured and didn't play in the preseason, perhaps explaining the frail connections Friday. Yeagley said Helmer, one of the team's better passers, wasn't as sharp, but he hasn't lost the role, either. Yeagley also said the services will be cleaned up as the season progresses. 

"I'm like, man, that could have been the difference, "Yeagley said. "Lost opportunity."

"We had the chances, and I thought that their keeper made a couple of really nice saves," Yeagley said. "We got a lot of guys in, some freshmen played some big minutes. In the end, we know we can play better than that, but I've been up here a lot of years and I've seen a tough first outing for us. I thought tonight we did some good things." 

Left back Alex Barger delivered one of the best freshman performances Yeagley has seen to date. The Indiana coach complimented Barger on accepting the challenge to handle Notre Dame's returning leading goal-scorer Daniel Russo, as well as KK Baffour, who assisted Notre Dame's first and lone goal. Baffour and Oduro, who are both from Ghana, talked to each other as friends on the field after Thursday's draw. 

Before Oduro even got to Indiana, the Hoosiers identically opened the season two years ago at Notre Dame in 2021. Indiana won 3-2 via golden goal when regular season matches still had overtime. Notre Dame almost returned the favor in the final minutes Thursday, which would've acted as the matching golden payback. Instead, both sides barely settled to draw. Yeagley said you need wins, but he'll accept this for now. The road draw will help the team RPI-wise, and besides, they love the big games.

Indiana's home-opener is at 8 p.m. EST versus DePaul at Bill Armstrong Stadium.  

• BACHARACH AND ODURO EARN TDS HONORS, HOOSIERS TO BEGIN SEASON AT NOTRE DAME: Following three scrimmage wins, Indiana men's soccer's quest for the 2023 national title starts Thursday. The Hoosiers will play Notre Dame in the season opener, adding new faces in Hugo Bacharach and Collins Oduro. The pair earned preseason honors from Top Drawer Soccer Wednesday. CLICK HERE

• INDIANA PICKED 2ND IN PRESEASON BIG TEN POLL: The Big Ten men's soccer preseason poll was released Monday, and No. 2 Indiana was slotted second. In the same release, three players from each team in the conference were chosen for the players-to-watch list. From Indiana: Patrick McDonald, Sam Sarver, and Collins Oduro. CLICK HERE

• INDIANA HOLDS OUT 1-0 VICTORY TO END PRESEASON: Indiana won all three preseason scrimmages, outscoring opponents 5-1. Tommy Mihalic's goal was the decider Friday night versus Louisville, and Indiana held on with trust in plenty of freshmen substitutions. Next up is the season opener at Notre Dame next Thursday. CLICK HERE