No. 15 Indiana Soccer Looks For First Road Win At South Florida Friday Night

On Monday, the Hoosiers concluded their three-match home stand by beating now-ranked No. 23 Seton Hall 1-0. Indiana will play an opponent that made last year's NCAA Tournament for the third straight match Friday night, as it travels to South Florida. In those previous two matches versus 2022 tournament teams, Indiana had one win and one loss.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Following Indiana's 1-0 shutout win Monday night over now-ranked No. 23 Seton Hall, the No. 15 Hoosiers will go on the road to play South Florida Friday night. Indiana has played once on the road in four matches, drawing 1-1 in the season-opener at Notre Dame.

South Florida marks Indiana's third consecutive opponent that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers lost to No. 25 Washington 1-0 last Friday and beat formerly unranked Seton Hall Monday by that same score to conclude their three-match home stand. Indiana is averaging the sixth-most shots per game in the nation with 19, while South Florida has averaged roughly 10 shots with zero goals in three shutout losses to begin the season.

Still, the Bulls have traveled vast distances and played ranked opposition in their first two matches. They lost to Washington 2-0 and then were blanked by that same score at Seattle. Most recently, South Florida was shut out by two goals against Mercer at home. Within that span, the Bulls have outshot their opponents 29-20 and 13-12 in shots on target.

"I think physically we can be on the front foot and get after this team," Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said of South Florida Monday. "We don't really do great when we sit. We like to get after it. I feel as if we'll be aggressive against South Florida. That said, they have really talented players. They can kind of unbalance you … We have to be ready to be able to defend in transition … I think you'll see a team that really likes to play through every line."

South Florida reached the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament, beating Hofstra 4-2. The Bulls were then shutout 4-0 by No. 1 seed Kentucky. South Florida returns its two leading goal scorers from last season, junior forward Oscar Resano and senior midfielder Ajmeer Spengler. The pair combined for 11 goals last season and have played in all of the team's three matches this season, combining for five of South Florida's 29 missed shots.

In the preseason, South Florida shut out Central Florida 2-0, now ranked No. 6 in the country. UCF tied 2-2 with No. 11 Florida International on Wednesday. Though South Florida’s win over UCF was only an exhibition, Indiana likewise shut out Louisville 1-0 in the preseason, and the Cardinals are now ranked higher in the United Soccer Coaches poll at No. 7, boasting an undefeated 4-0-0 record, with two ranked wins.

The match will kick-off at 7 p.m. ET Friday at South Florida and air on ESPN-plus. 

Related stories on Indiana Soccer: 

• INDIANA SOCCER BLANKS SETON HALL: Indiana followed up Friday's shutout loss to No. 22 Washington by beating Seton Hall Monday night, 1-0. As the Hoosiers outshot the Pirates 14-4, Sam Sarver's goal seemed more than just relief. CLICK HERE

• 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
• 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