Indiana Soccer Draws 1-1 At Kentucky Despite Henderlong Goal, Harms Penalty Save

The Hoosiers started their two-match road trip at Kentucky on Tuesday night to begin October. Karsen Henderlong started as the target man for the first time this season and scored 12 minutes into the match, but Indiana eventually settled for another draw, 1-1.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Indiana soccer appeared to get the break it had been waiting for twelve minutes into Tuesday night's match at Kentucky. 

And not just one. Two fortunate bounces in the same goal-scoring play helped. One ricocheted pass drew two Kentucky defenders and landed right to Samuel Sarver, who was wide open with a path toward the middle of the box. Sarver aimed a through-ball at his usual partner, freshman Collins Oduro. But instead, the ball got caught up with about four players. 

It eventually fell to Indiana's Karsen Henderlong, making his first start this season. He gathered the loose ball, took one touch, then fired to the left side. The fifth-year senior's first goal of the year gave Indiana an early lead.

In spite of the team's quick start, which also featured Indiana goalkeeper JT Harms diving to save Kentucky's penalty kick in the 23rd minute, the Hoosiers eventually conceded a goal in the 30th minute and settled for their second consecutive draw, 1-1. 

Indiana controlled the second half but didn't convert on three open-field chances right out of the break. The Hoosiers also had two corner kicks around the final 10 minutes, which caused scrambles near the front of Kentucky's goal, but neither resulted in a goal.

"We've been saying if we get better service, we're going to either score or have a second ball sitting there," Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said. "It was sitting there. Tonight, we had both. … We had a couple that I thought we could have scored directly and then the ball just sitting in the six, and not that our guys aren't working hard for it, it's just a matter of six inches, a foot. Just [does Kentucky] get a block or do we get to it first."

"This game, it can drive you crazy at times, knowing that that's the difference." 

Still, Yeagley thought the service Tuesday was good and put players in prime positions to score. He wasn't disappointed, but he knows that the team must continue to output dangerous accuracy to yield results. Prior to Tuesday, Indiana hadn't had success or consistency with corner kicks. 

Yeagley said he wanted to substitute in aerial specialist Andrew Goldsworthy with eight minutes left, though the team didn't have any throw-ins or goal kicks until around three minutes remaining. By then, Kentucky's Mathias Yohannes drew his second yellow card to bring the Wildcats down to 10 players with five minutes left. Goldsworthy was only in time for one good crossing chance, which missed.

Indiana's Tommy Mihalic did have an argument that he was fouled in the box with 10 minutes left, though the potential penalty wasn't called. Mihalic was on the receiving end of one of the three chances right after the break, but Indiana made perhaps one too many passes. Kentucky's first-half equalizer, via Eoin Martin's superb strike, tauntingly resulted from a second ball, which Indiana failed to convert on with those two late-match corners. 

"There was a couple really good attacks that we didn't get a shot off that maybe we had an extra pass," Yeagley said. "But we had good numbers. We always say, if you have as good a window as the next guy, take it because then obviously, the pass has to be more accurate as another error potential. So yeah, I thought there was a couple. But we had a couple of really good three-vs-two's that we just hit the wrong weight. We got boxed time and time again in dangerous positions." 

The Hoosiers changed from their usual 4-2-2 formation to the 4-3-3 Tuesday night. Though little changed systematically, Henderlong immediately started in the middle up top as the target man for the first time this season. His goal wasn't conventional acting as that target man with the loose ball scramble, but it was an excellent strike that Indiana welcomed. The Hoosiers were just unable to find the put-away goal. 

They'll continue their October road trip against No. 19 Penn State on Saturday at Noon ET in a vital conference matchup for points. 

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