No. 10 Indiana Soccer Hosts Seton Hall, Looks To Bounce Back From Shutout Loss

Though Indiana out-shot No. 22 Washington 14-7 Friday night, the Hoosiers were shutout 1-0 at home for their first loss of the year. Indiana has outshot opponents 62-17 total and 20-9 in shots on target so far this season, yet is averaging one goal per match. On Monday night, the Hoosiers will host Seton Hall to conclude the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's difficult to detail whether Indiana has trouble scoring at the present time, three matches into the 2023 season. 

The Hoosiers have encountered three veteran, dependable opposing goalkeepers: tied 1-1 at Notre Dame, beat DePaul 2-0, and were rarely shutout 1-0 by No. 22 Washington at home Friday. One goal per match is decent, but three through 62 shots may draw concerns. 

There are, of course, caveats to this. Three matches is minuscule sample size. Last season, Indiana conceded three goals in the Big Ten Tournament Championship, then posted four clean sheets in the subsequent matches to reach the national championship. By posting 62 shots, 20 of which were on target, the Hoosiers have boasted their attacking caliber. Should this volume of shots continue Monday night, one would think Indiana is likely due to burst offensively. 

In fairness, DePaul’s and Washington’s goalies combined for 13 saves. The discrepancy was that Washington’s Sam Fowler made the needed clutch saves, like blocking two shots by Indiana’s Tommy Mihalic, to hold the Hoosiers scoreless. The Hoosiers eventually overwhelmed DePaul with their 23rd shot last Tuesday night. In total, Indiana has outshot foes 62-17 and 20-9 on target. Take away the DePaul match and that’s still 31-16 and 11-8, respectively.

Indiana welcomes Seton Hall Monday night to conclude each program’s second match of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. The Pirates bested Ohio State 1-0 about an hour prior to Indiana playing Washington Friday night. 

Seton Hall is undefeated in three matches to begin the year, likewise blanking Rider 1-0 and Air Force 3-0. Seton Hall’s 6-foot-4 graduate starting goalkeeper Mats Roorda hasn’t conceded one goal in 270 minutes. He has faced 28 shots total so far, which is somewhat close to Indiana’s attack fielding 20 shots on target.

Indiana and Seton Hall have played once in the last 35 years, most recently in the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers beat the Pirates 2-0 to go to their 21st College Cup. Following the disappointing Washington defeat on Friday, Yeagley once more praised another Big East program in Seton Hall. The Pirates are one of seven teams, including Washington, on Indiana’s schedule that made last year’s NCAA Tournament.

“If [Washington] was the one big game we had and we had three kind of cupcakes the next three, it's a little harder for the guys to be like ‘okay, lost that opportunity,’” Yeagley said Friday. “After a loss you want good opponents to follow back up with, and Seton Hall will do that for us.”

Seton Hall placed top-40 in the RPI last season and finished second behind Georgetown in the Big East standings, going 4-1-5 in league play. The Pirates have scored five goals this season via four distinct scorers. Graduate James Boote leads the Pirates with two of the five.

Kick-off is at 8 p.m. ET for Monday’s IU Classic finale, which will air on Big Ten Plus. The first 500 fans to Bill Armstrong Stadium will receive Indiana men’s soccer scarves, and students who arrive early will receive free pizza as part of Student Appreciation Night. 

Related stories on Indiana Soccer: 

• NO. 10 INDIANA FALLS TO NO. 22 WASHINGTON: Consensus top-25 teams Indiana and Washington met Friday night for the first time since Washington's postseason victory in 2021. The Hoosiers put up five shots on target in the second half, though they conceded the lone goal of the match in the 77th minute. CLICK HERE

• INDIANA-WASHINGTON PREVIEW: The Hoosiers and Washington Huskies are consensus top-25 teams, appearing in each of the three popular men's college soccer polls this week. The two teams last met in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Round of 16, when Washington prevailed 3-2 in overtime. CLICK HERE

• INDIANA DEFEATS DEPAUL 2-0 IN HOME OPENER: The Hoosiers earned their first win of the season Tuesday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium and improved to 32-10-9 in home-openers all-time. Indiana staggeringly outshot DePaul 31-1 in 90 minutes. Collins Oduro and Quinten Helmer scored the two second-half goals. CLICK HERE

• JT HARMS FEATURE: JT Harms dove into goalkeeping at 9 years old. He trained with far older players at academies, but his progress stalled at Duke. At Indiana, a position battle brought humility — and confidence. CLICK HERE