Three Takeaways From IU's Top Notch Fall Sports Season To Date
Hoosiers Faced Wisconsin Tuesday Night In Soccer In The Latest Fall Event And Dominated With A 4-1 Win
Armstrong Stadium, Where The Soccer Match Took Place On Tuesday
Soccer Blows Out Wisconsin In Microcosm Of Early-Season IU Athletics
Bloomington-The soccer Hoosiers dominated Wisconsin on Tuesday night, 4-1, to improve to 11-3-1. The performance was a microcosm of IU’s fall athletic season (more below).
Led by the humble Palmer Ault’s 14 goals, the team has its most legitimate scoring threat since Eriq Zavaleta (18 goals) led the squad to its eighth and to date last national title in 2012. While the conference record is not sparkling at 4-3, the RPI is in the top few spots in college soccer.
Ault said he is focused mostly on now when asked about the last national title squad and comparisons to Zavaleta.
“When I came in the spring, I knew that the team that was being built had aspirations to do great things this fall,” Ault said. “Comparing us to 2012, it’s great to hear, but at the end of the day, it’s all about this team right here.
As a result, the Hoosiers will have an easier path to the College Cup than recently, likely hosting multiple home games. An undefeated non-conference with multiple signature victories is driving this.
With a boatload of league championships recently and no national titles to show for it (although four College Cup appearances since 2017), a focus on chasing that ninth star over a conference championship seems prudent right now. At this point, Indiana is in the best position to do so since earning a top-seven seed from 2016-2020, getting as high as a number two seed.
Indeed, the committee had IU as a five seed in its first reveal, which would guarantee two postseason home matches. A victory over Maryland in the next game might move the squad into the top four, which is critical to guaranteeing matches at Armstrong Stadium until the College Cup.
Defender Alex Barger, who scored the first goal of Tuesday’s match, said chasing a national title absolutely matters to him, although he would not commit to saying he was OK with it coming at the expense of conference supremacy
“That’s a tough question,” Barger said. “Honestly, our biggest goal here is just to win championships, and if that means trading something for something bigger, I don’t know if I can trade stuff in. I think our only goal here is to get the job done.”
Volleyball Headed Towards First NCAA Tournament In 16 Years
2010 was a signature season for IU volleyball. After several years of competitiveness and improvement from their spot as a cellar dweller, everything clicked that year. Led by All-American Ashley Benson (daughter of former Hoosier great Kent Benson), Indiana hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and made the Sweet 16 for the only time in program history.
After Benson left, though, the program went back to the bottom of an elite conference. It was not until many years later that the program built a modern facility on campus and then hired current head coach Steve Aird that another turnaround occurred.
While the team has been competitive the past several seasons, this fall is when everything has finally come together, seemingly. The squad sits at 15-3 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten. This includes a ranking in the top 25 (currently 23) and an RPI in the top 15 with multiple top-50 wins.
Indeed, the selection committee has IU as a top-16 squad and hosting as of this moment. Whether they hold on to this spot or not, a long drought without postseason play appears on the verge of ending, barring a collapse.
Success Occurring Across The Board Elsewhere As Well
After years of struggles, the state of Indiana can seemingly do little wrong in 2025 when it comes to sports (and this extends beyond IU to the state’s other colleges and professional squads in many cases). Outside of the well-documented case of football (and men’s soccer and volleyball as described above), other Olympic sports are thriving as well.
Field hockey broke into the national rankings at No. 20 after a slow start with a massive upset of Maryland on the road. Women’s soccer under new head coach Josh Rife has brought up the rear, but the squad still had far worse years in reason history and currently sits at 5-5-6.
In the individual sports, cross country won an early home meet and finished top seven in another. Men’s golf’s highest finish is third so far, while women’s golf has gone as high as second.
The other of the 24 sports have yet to get underway and will start up either for the winter or spring. Either way, though, multiple home postseason events and a potential 25th NCAA championship may be in the cards somewhere.
IU men’s soccer coach Todd Yeagley praised all the success this autumn for his squad and across the board with Indiana athletics
“I’m born and raised in IU gear,” Yeagley said. “I’m as proud as anyone. You’ve got to love the jobs that our coaches are doing. I think when you have a winning culture in the department, it motivates and it continues to recruit. The more we win every sport, there will be more top prospects that want to be here, regardless of what sport. We’re red hot, and people want to be at IU. I think it’s sustainable.”
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