3 Takeaways From IU's 1-1 Tie With Butler in Men's Soccer On Sep. 4

Missed Chances On Both Sides Lead To This Result

IU Warms Up For Their Wednesday Night Match Against Butler In Indianapolis

Both Teams Create Plenty Of Chances But Make Bad Decisions When Trying To Finish Attacks

Indianapolis-While this match ended in a 1-1 tie, it was likely a night where both IU and Butler felt like they should have scored several more goals. The Hoosiers struck early with a rocket into the net from just outside the box from Patrick McDonald.

However, Tommy Mihalic skyed a penalty kick over the net that IU earned from a Bulldog handball in the box. Also, Indiana created several point-blank opportunities on long balls over the top but made too many passes rather than shooting when the best chance was available.

For Butler, they equalized on a breakaway in the second half. However, while dominating the shots 17-10, they also took many quick attempts that were ill-advised and bounced easy balls to IU goalkeeper JT Harms for saves. While Harms was credited with seven stops, most were about as easy as possible to make.

In the end, both sides could not have done better when building their attack. However, their final decisions led to the Hoosiers passing one too many times and shooting too late when given the chance. Vice versa, the Bulldogs were shooting too early on offensive possessions and not forcing Indiana to defend for as long as they should have.

For his squad’s part, IU coach Todd Yeagley lamented the poor decisions when attacking.

“We squandered too many chances,” Yeagley said. “We’ve got to be better in the final third than that. We had three or four breakaways that we couldn’t find the right pass or we decided to pass when we should have shot. We let that one slip away.”

IU Off To Slow Start Again in 2024 But Fast Finish Is Likely

After tonight’s result, Indiana has just a 1-1-2 record. Slow starts are nothing new for this IU soccer team recently. In 2023, the team was just 3-3-4 before catching fire and winning the Big Ten while finishing 15-4-5 and making the Elite 8. In 2022, the squad made the College Cup after beginning 3-2-1 and ending 14-5-6. 2021 saw 5-3-1 turn into 15-6-1.

Why this is happening season in and season out since the Covid shortened 2021 season is an open question. However, Hoosier fans have little to worry about, and past precedent indicates victories will come in bunches pretty soon. It is nearly certain the squad will as usual be a legitimate conference and national championship contender before long despite not looking it yet.

Is The IU Vs. Butler Soccer Rivalry Dropping In Popularity?

In 2013, 2015, and 2017 this IU vs. Butler soccer match was the hottest ticket in town and the sports focus of most fans and media locally in Indy. Also, attendance started at 5,029 in 2013 and peaked at 6,105 in 2017. Since then, this number has declined each time from 4,312 in 2019, to 4,073 in 2022 and 3,934 tonight. While the weather has been picture-perfect for each meeting and the atmosphere has been solid and evenly split fan-wise from those who do show up, the declining numbers are unavoidably noticeable. Also, the amount of attention paid to the event by both side’s supporters and the local media seems to be lessening each time.

What is causing this? I don’t have a good answer here other than to say that the popularity of college soccer in general has been in decline (while most other levels of soccer are increasing in popularity). Indiana’s elite play has been able to withstand this drop-off and continue to receive attention. However, this is not the case elsewhere. It is also possible that after a decade of this matchup on Butler’s campus, casual Hoosier and Bulldog supporters don’t want to come out each time.

Also, when Butler first joined the Big East and transitioned to big-time college sports, many of their fans and employees (I spoke to several in this mindset) felt like playing IU and other top programs validated their achieving this status. Now with this established, it is of less urgency when big-time opponents visit their campus which occurs regularly being in a power five league.

The Hoosiers return to action next Monday back at home against Dayton at 8 pm. It should be noted Assembly Call will not have live coverage of this match. This will return on September 20 when the Hoosiers host Maryland. Between now and then following the match with the Flyers, Indiana heads to Rutgers on September 13 and hosts Evansville on September 17.

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The postgame press conference with Yeagley can be seen below: