Seven Indiana Soccer Players Earn Big Ten Accolades

Indiana soccer players Samuel Sarver, Patrick McDonald and Joey Maher made the All-Big Ten first team. JT Harms and Hugo Bacharach were selected to the second team. Collins Oduro made the all-freshman team, and Maouloune Goumballe was the Sportsmanship Award honoree.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Before the start of the men’s soccer Big Ten Tournament Friday night, the conference released regular season awards.

Indiana’s seven candidates were the most in the Big Ten. Indiana posted All-Big Ten first-team selections in each third of the field, with forward Samuel Sarver, midfielder Patrick McDonald and defender Joey Maher.

Sarver, the team’s leader in goals and assists, is also tied for second in goals in the Big Ten with seven. McDonald had two goals in the regular season, and recently tallied one last Sunday when the Hoosiers defeated Rutgers 4-1 at home to clinch their share of the Big Ten title. The midfielder is also one of three Hoosiers with three assists behind Sarver’s four.

Maher is part of Indiana’s backline that ranks seventh nationally in goals against average. The Hoosiers have only allowed multiple goals in just one match so far this season. 

The Hoosiers also had two All-Big Ten second-team selections on the defensive side of the field with goalkeeper JT Harms and center-back-turned-defensive midfielder Hugo Bacharach. Maher and Bacharach were each named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in October.

Collins Oduro was one of six unanimous selections to the All-Big Ten freshman team. Oduro is one of two Hoosiers to have started in all of the team’s 17 matches. He recorded goals in the first two matches of the season, and posted the second-most shots on the team, with 40. Oduro has the third-most points on the squad, with three goals and two assists this season. He also appeared No. 13 nationally in Top Drawer Soccer’s Midseason Top-100 freshman list.

Maouloune Goumballe was Indiana’s honoree for the Sportsmanship Award, handed to an individual player on each team in the conference. Goumballe scored for the first time this season on Oct. 27, which was also the fifth-year senior’s 100th career appearance. Now at 101 appearances, Goumballe is the NCAA’s active leader in career games played.

No. 1 seed Indiana hosts No. 8 seed Wisconsin at home in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on Big Ten-plus.

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• OCTOBER NOTEBOOK: The Big Ten sprint is on. Indiana is in second with 11 points, two shy of co-leaders Michigan State and Penn State. Here's an October Notebook about the team's win streak and key contributors. CLICK HERE