3 Takeaways From IU's 1-0 Defeat Against Maryland in Men's Soccer

Struggles Continue As Team Now Sits At 2-3-3

Armstrong Stadium In Bloomington Where The Match Took Place

Is Two Better Than 22 When It Comes To IU Athletics?

Bloomington-In almost any circumstances besides golf, the higher number is what many would want when it comes to success in sports. In this case, the obvious answer would be that 22 is the stronger digit as it refers to the number of IU sports that have more or less been successful in the last few years.

Indiana athletics has 24 sports and for the most part, everyone but the big two of football and men’s basketball have had more highs than lows. However, the two signature programs have struggled.

So far the early results from 2024-2025 say things may be headed in the opposite direction. With renewed excitement and results under Hoosier coach Curt Cignetti, the boys on the gridiron have been the standout program of the early autumn. Also, the hype of Mike Woodson’s squad seems to indicate a promising winter on the court.

Vice versa, the other fall sports that have been relatively strong the past few seasons, have had a very slow start. This includes men’s soccer which is generally the crown jewel of the teams in Bloomington.

After Friday’s result against Maryland, Indiana sits at just 2-3-3. As has been the case the last few seasons, this squad has been slow to get started and their long consecutive postseason streak is again in jeopardy.

This raises the question of whether soccer’s struggles amongst the other sports are worth it to IU fans if it means a successful season in football and men’s basketball. Supporters of Indiana can comment below on how they feel about this.

This Result, Especially In Isolation Is Not The Issue

The Maryland Terrapins, like the Hoosiers, are one of the top teams in college soccer most seasons. Indiana went toe-to-toe and got a bad result on a bad break that led to a Terps penalty kick and a 1-0 loss in a match that spanned two days due to weather. However, given how the season has played out so far, the defeat is more troubling than meets the eye.

Like the tie against Notre Dame, no person in Armstrong Stadium would be surprised to see this result not end in a victory. The issue is losses to middling St. Louis and Dayton squads and draws against struggling Evansville and Butler.

IU coach Todd Yeagley said the Terrapins are indeed one of the tougher challenges his squad has faced.

“Maryland’s a really good side and they are motivated,” Yeagley said. “They are playing tough and hard and there is good belief.”

This starts with the offense which for the second straight year is struggling to finish opportunities and score goals. Last fall, forward Tommy Mihalic had trouble finding the net. This time though Mihalic has been the lone Hoosier to put chances home. It is others such as longtime reliable attacker Sam Sarver who are not finding success this fall. Either way though, the best chances to score need to be converted very quickly in future matches to turn these struggles around.

As College Soccer Changes Elite Programs Have Struggled But Hoosier Fans Likely Won’t Be Patient

The famous saying is “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”. This is relevant due to the nature of attention IU soccer and other Olympic sports at IU generally get.

While fans often get downright angry and complain when football or men’s basketball struggle in Bloomington, the other 22 sports generally see supporters go straight to apathy when hard times occur and don’t pay attention to that squad. This is no more evident than 2021 and 2022 Indiana Baseball, women’s basketball before 2019, and any other team that struggles outside the big two.

In some ways these other Hoosier teams have an advantage in that partisans follow them when they are strong, but don’t pay attention when they lose. However, it leads to the phenomenon of few knowing what is going on in the bad times as has happened for sports outside of football so far in 2024.

What is causing these struggles in soccer though? Indiana is far from alone as traditional power Penn State struggled two seasons ago and again this fall while Maryland had major issues last year. Also, traditional powers like Akron, Connecticut, Creighton, St. Louis, and UCLA have had more inconstancies in recent seasons.

The Hoosiers are extremely lucky that they have figured out their early struggles in the last few years as the above squads with similar success to the one in Bloomington have not always done so. The reasoning for this is likely due to parody and more foreign influence.

Yeagley explained why it is more difficult to win now than ever before.

“There’s just more better players,” Yeagley said. “There is better coaching. Where we would have big matchup advantages in games, you see less of that across the board. A team you would call a proverbial mid-major they can get some pretty good guys. The margins are not as big as they were 10,15, 20 years ago. Also, Internationals are 35 to 40% (of the sport) and are typically older.”

In each of the past three seasons with these slow starts, IU has figured it out once October hits. The proof will be in the pudding though if this happens again. It will need to if the squad wants to keep their very long NCAA Tournament streak (since 1987) alive.

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Postgame press conferences can be seen below: