Hoosiers Now

Indiana Soccer Season Concludes With Sweet 16 Defeat At Denver

Streaky season for Indiana comes to a conclusion in NCAA Tournament defeat.

Todd Golden

Indiana goalkeeper JT Harms and Sam Sarver from an Indiana match at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Indiana goalkeeper JT Harms and Sam Sarver from an Indiana match at Bill Armstrong Stadium. / Indiana athletics
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s men’s soccer team had an up-and-down season in which it often put itself behind the 8-ball with early deficits, only to come back and either earn a draw or fight back for a win.

It wasn’t just in individual matches where it was that way. Indiana started the season with an 2-3-4 record, only to fight their way back to a co-Big Ten regular season championship.

On Saturday, Indiana finally confronted a deficit it couldn’t overcome in its NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 match at Denver. The No. 3-seeded Pioneers scored a goal in the 9th minute and it held up for a 1-0 victory that ended No. 14-seeded Indiana’s season in a match played in front of a large crowd on Denver’s campus.

Denver’s only goal had an element of fortune. Denver’s Ian Smith sent a cross near the goal that was met by Indiana’s Jack Wagoner. However, Wagoner’s attempt to clear it resulted in a deflected ball off of Alex Barger and right to Denver’s Keegan Kelly who buried the chance to put the Pioneers in front 1-0.

Indiana was not able to produce the equalizer as it was able to do when it fell behind against Akron in the second round of the tournament.

Chances by Jansen Miller in the 77th minute and by Justin Weiss in the 80th minute were both saved by Denver goalkeeper Isaac Nehme.

Indiana (11-5-5) only had four shots in the match. Corner kicks were even at six apiece. Denver (14-3-4) was physical with the Hoosiers as the Pioneers had 18 fouls in the match to Indiana’s three.

Tommy Mihalic led Indiana in goals with 10. Sam Sarver had five goals and led the Hoosiers with eight assists.

Goalkeeper JT Harms, midfielder Luke Jeffus, Miller and Weiss have senior-plus eligibility or have grad student eligibility, so their Indiana careers came to an end. Mihalic, Sarver and key midfielder Patrick McDonald are seniors who also have used their four years of eligibility.

Even with its season-ending defeat, the Hoosiers extended some of its NCAA Tournament milestones. Indiana was in the NCAA Tournament for the 49th time in program history, its 38th consecutive appearance. Indiana advanced to the third round for the 43rd time in program history. Both stand as NCAA records.

Related stories on Indiana soccer ...

  • HOOSIERS BEAT AKRON: Indiana defeated Akron via a golden goal to advance in the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE.
  • INDIANA FINDS OUT TOURNAMENT PATH: Indiana is in the men's soccer tournament and found out its potential path to the College Cup. CLICK HERE.
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Todd Golden
TODD GOLDEN

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