BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After previous No. 1 Marshall lost to Virginia Tech, Indiana moved to No. 1 according to TopDrawerSoccer, College Soccer News, and United Soccer Coaches polls. This change makes Indiana the unanimous No. 1 team in the country.
Previous No. 1 Marshall suffered a surprising loss to No. 15 Virginia Tech after being up 2-0 to the Hokies. Virginia Tech was aggressive in the second half which led to quick back-to-back goals and an eventual game winner off a penalty kick from Nick Blacklock.
In Indiana’s home opener against Butler was another nondominant game, but the Hoosiers were tough-minded and showed resilience being down with several key players injured. Victor Bezerra, Joe Schmidt, and Ryan Wittenbrink were all out with injuries on Tuesday night. It is possible to get some more of these players back for the upcoming games against Creighton and Xavier though for the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
Despite being the No. 1 team in the country, Indiana is far from perfect at this moment as noted in the games against Notre Dame and Butler. Butler came off dominating early in the game with early shots on goal and controlling the ball. Joey Maher was ultimately the one who broke the 0-0 tie in the 29th minute off a free kick from Spencer Glass. Indiana controlled the momentum most of the rest of the game and played great defense in preventing the Bulldogs from putting shots on goal.
All 2,592 fans were excited to see Indiana play for the first time in Bill Armstrong Stadium in over a year because of the pandemic. However, the most excited people in the stadium were the players.
“That was incredible,” Maher says. “It’s my first game with a home crowd. Hoosier Army was fantastic. I can’t wait for more home games.”
Indiana is set to play a pair of home games against Creighton on Friday and then Xavier on Monday for the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Creighton is currently 0-2 with only 1 goal scored and 6 against them after games against Tulsa and Saint Louis. Xavier is 2-0 with wins against Eastern Illinois and IUPUI.
