3 Takeaways From IU Soccer's 2-0 Win Vs. Oregon State
Hoosiers Play Best Game Of The Year So Far To Improve To 3-0-1
Armstrong Stadium In Bloomington, Where The Match Took Place
Has Beginning At Home Finally Flipped The Slow Starts To Recent Seasons?
Bloomington-Since COVID, Indiana has flirted with missing the postseason multiple times the last few autumns due to uncharacteristically slow starts. However, nearly perfect Octobers sprang playing long into November and December in the end, as has happened each year since 1987.
However, 2025 may be different. Taking advantage of a five-game homestand to open the season, Indiana has gotten a result each time to improve to 3-0-1 following a 2-0 victory against Oregon State on Sunday Night.
The competition has still been top-notch, but being in the friendly confines has avoided what has seemed to be an early-season dud away from Bloomington in the past few years. The Hoosiers do have a massive test in match six at Notre Dame. However, by then, IU appears to be building confidence to finally get out of the gate on the right foot.
Indiana coach Todd Yeagley said that while playing in Bloomington helps, there are other factors involved
“Homes always great,” Yeagley said. “We’ve dropped some tough games at home, though, too. We play a tough schedule. Luckily, we’ve been able to earn these (wins) the hard way coming from behind. Being undefeated against this competition, home or away, is a good sign.”
This homestand ends with another tough test against St. Louis on Wednesday, which has yet to give up a goal. However, tonight’s result shows the Hoosiers may be well on their way to not having to scratch and claw with a near-perfect finish to get a good seed come postseason as they chase a ninth national title.
Transfers Contributing Early This Fall
IU never truly rebuilds in soccer, but it did need to reload this season. While a few holdovers in Alex Barger, Josh Maher, and Collins Oduro offer familiarity, a combination of transfers and freshmen will determine the ceiling.
Moving over from other colleges and expected to contribute are Virginia’s Victor Akoum and Butler’s Palmer Ault, among others. While transfers have thrived under Yeagley, they often take a while to gel in the system.
Early returns, though, are extremely positive for the newcomers, finally contributing from the get-go. Ault scored both goals in tonight’s match to get to four on the young season, while Evansville transfer Jacopo Fedrizzi has found the net three times. Also, Akum and Michigan State transfer Cristiano Bruletti have anchored the back line.
Ault said he is glad to see so many players who are new to the squad get off on the right foot.
“The guys we’ve got in this locker room are so unselfish,” Ault said. “It’s all about the team for us. We know the talent that was lost the last few years. It’s cool to come in with new players that are all hungry to contribute to the team.”
If these contributions from the veteran newcomers continue all year, Indiana could run through the fall with few defeats. This at Indiana is the ultimate goal for a program that, both historically and in the present, has had more success than almost any other in NCAA soccer.
A Potentially Weak Big Ten Makes Strong Non-Conference Results All The More Important
In 2023, IU was the best in a very weak conference and the only one to get into the NCAA Tournament out of the league. However, the slow start and lack of signature wins before Big Ten play made it so it was one of just two times in Yeagley’s tenure that the team did not obtain a seed as one of the best 16 in the country.
In 2024, the conference was once again among the best in college soccer, and as a result, Indiana was once again seeded despite the early struggles. Turning to 2025, the data is still in its early stages. However, so far, the conference as a whole looks much more like 2023. IU and Maryland are well inside the top 16 of the RPI, while the rest of the league is struggling to maintain top-70.
This makes this early-season success all the more important. Combined with what might be another Big Ten Championship, Indiana could then take the easier path to try to get to the College Cup as they did in 2017, 2018, and 2020. This would involve at least two home games against inferior competition and only one heavyweight matchup in the Elite Eight, either in Bloomington or somewhere else, depending on how high they are come November.
_____________________________________________________________________