Indiana Soccer Season Outlook: Bacharach's Placement In The Midfield Should Continue

Indiana picked up an important win at No. 19 Penn State last weekend. Samuel Sarver scored both goals, and defender Hugo Bacharach had both assists, starting in the midfield for the first time this season. Bacharach commanded the space; this could be the answer.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It’s only a sample size of one match, but Indiana soccer may have found the answer to solving its inability to score.

Over the weekend, the Hoosiers drilled two goals for the first time since late August to topple No. 19 Penn State 2-1. Leading-scorer Samuel Sarver accounted for both goals, bringing his season total to five, which is tied for second in the Big Ten. Simply put, Sarver’s busy afternoon lifted the Indiana attack over the hump, which was averaging fewer than one goal per match prior to Saturday.

Sarver deserves credit for his nifty move that bluffed the goalie, and later, the upper-90 laser that put the Hoosiers ahead again two minutes into the second half. But it’s more complex than that. And, actually, the potential answer starts in the midfield with Hugo Bacharach

Bacharach, the 6-foot-4-inch and 210-pound defender, made his season debut in the midfield Saturday at Penn State. The reasoning for the backline switch was due to starting midfielder Jack Wagoner’s “knock” in training last week, Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley revealed.

The Hoosiers already had great depth at the backline anyway. With Bacharach in the central midfield, rookie Alex Barger was at left-back, veteran Joey Maher and an in-form Jansen Miller were the center backs, and the recently healthy Brett Bebej returned at right-back.

Furthermore, Indiana’s defense is tied for allowing the fewest goals in the Big Ten this season.

But anyway, pregame notions were that Bacharach would mostly act defensively by staying close to the backline. After all, Penn State boasted one of the highest-scoring attacks in the conference. The backline could benefit from the help. Twice however, Bacharach won the ball at midfield, dribbled far into the attacking third, and played two outstanding through-balls to Sarver. Bacharach received credit for two assists.

On the second goal-scoring play, Bacharach pushed one defender aside and dribbled past two others. Once he passed midfield Saturday, he was practically impossible to guard without slide-tackling perfectly. Bacharach commanded the center with his physicality, controlled his dribbling, intercepted potentially dangerous Penn State passes, and had that through-ball weapon, which Yeagley was aware of.

“Hugo does so many good things, obviously defensively,” Yeagley said Saturday after the win. “So good going forward, and as center back, you have to pick and choose those moments… He has really good ideas. He has soft feet, he’s a good passer, so this frees him up to do that. I thought he was a little more spot on (at the midfield position) for not having as many reps.”

Wagoner did play 15 minutes Saturday, and though he may be fully healthy in time for the next match Wednesday at home versus Evansville, Indiana might as well start Bacharach in the midfield to continue this experiment. Sure, Evansville at home is not necessarily as high-stakes as on the road at Penn State, but the Hoosiers can’t afford to draw or lose this matchup for RPI purposes.

With Saturday's victory, Indiana leaped in the RPI from the low-80s to the low-60s, but more work must be done to contend the 48-team field. Yeagley politely disagreed that dire wasn't the right word to describe Indiana's chances of an at-large bid if they didn't win at Penn State. 

But that's just the beginning piece of the puzzle. Indiana has six more matches in the regular season. One is versus Division III program Trine, four are against about 100 RPI-plus teams, and the biggie is four games from now at top-50 Northwestern, which is presently first in the conference standings with 10 points. Indiana has five. 

The Hoosiers must avoid defeats to 100-RPI teams that would hinder their postseason progress, which was recently revived at Penn State. Meanwhile, Indiana needs to beat Northwestern, as well as win two matches in the Big Ten Tournament, which could be another upset seeding-wise to earn an-large bid, probably. 

Indiana hasn't had that many quality or road wins at this point in the season, which is why Penn State is incredibly important. Keeping Bacharach at the midfield seems like the needed late-season adjustment and answer. 

Related stories on Indiana Soccer: 

• INDIANA BEATS NO. 19 PENN STATE 2-1 ON THE ROAD: Indiana faced Penn State on the road Saturday at Noon ET, winning 2-1 to leap in the RPI and gain points for the Big Ten title hunt. A recap from Happy Valley: CLICK HERE
• INDIANA DRAWS 1-1 WITH KENTUCKY: Veteran 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. CLICK HERE
• COLUMN: INDIANA WILL SURGE BACK IN THE B1G & MAKE THE POSTSEASON: Some might question if the Hoosiers are too late to get back into Big Ten regular season title race and if they could miss the postseason. With an excellent backline and attack getting closer to some goals, they aren't and they won't. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA ATHLETICS INDUCTS SIX NEW MEMBERS: Former Indiana men's soccer player Aleksey Korol was part of the six-member class of 2023 last Friday night to be inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame. 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