Three Takeaways From The IU Soccer Doubleheader On Thursday, August 29

Weather Plays A Factor In The Evening With Long Lightning Delays

Bill Armstrong Stadium Where IU Plays There Home Soccer Matches

Weather Rears Its Ugly Head For A Late Night At Armstrong Stadium

Bloomington-Unstable air in the late afternoon wreaked havoc on the planned doubleheader for the men’s and women’s soccer teams. While Armstrong Stadium and Bloomington never saw actual rain, lightning from a nearby pop-up storm caused multiple delays.

The women’s match was scheduled to kick off at 4:30 pm but was immediately delayed by 15 minutes due to the nearby weather. When kickoff was ready to go, another one-hour stoppage did not allow the first kick to occur until 5:45 pm. However, nine minutes in, the game was stopped again due to lightning that was even closer to the field. Finally, at 6:35 pm everything was a go with no further interruptions.

However, by then, the long stoppages pushed the men’s contest back about one-half hour to 8:30 pm. This made for a very late night and over six hours at the stadium for anyone who attended both matches.

However, the elite facilities that are offered on campus prevented an even later start time for game two. Armstrong Stadium is one of the few college soccer facilities to feature a separate practice field next door which allowed IU and Notre Dame to warm up as the first game wound down. This made it so that minimal time was needed on the main pitch once it became open.

Indiana coach Todd Yeagley said he is grateful to have the second place to practice and a top-notch facility.

“Same size, same surface, and we’re 20 yards from our game field,” Yeagley said. “Big advantage for us to have that.”

Women Improve To 3-0 With Dominating Win Over Wright State

The actual game was of minimal challenge to the Hoosiers. They scored right before the second delay nine minutes in and came back 40 minutes later once the lightning cleared with no momentum lost. They tacked on two scores late in the first half and rolled with three more in the final stanza for a 6-0 win.

Indiana sits at 3-0 early on in 2024 and looks to make a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time in program history. The postseason appearance in 2023 was their first in a decade and early results are promising. So far Indiana has victories over Tennessee in Bloomington and Ball State on the road before Thursday night’s result.

Hoosiers And Irish Battle To 2-2 Draw In Thrilling Match

Unlike their female counterparts, the men have had no issues making the NCAA Tournament. IU’s current postseason streak is quite long as Indiana has made it past the regular season every year since 1987. 2023 looked like it could end that streak as the Hoosiers have started slow each of the last few seasons before catching fire.

Since 2017, the team has been amongst the best in college soccer after a previous decade of standards that would thrill most programs but left Hoosier fans wanting more. While IU hoisted its last national championship in 2012 they were not close to any other hardware in that time. In the recent eight years, Indiana has won eight Big Ten trophies, been to four College Cups, and advanced past the Sweet 16 five times (between 2005 and 2016 they got past that round just twice).

The season started poorly last Friday night with a 2-0 loss to St. Louis on the road. IU has seemingly had an annual clunker away from home recently and this certainly fits that bill.

This left Thursday’s match against an elite Notre Dame squad as a big one. Indiana came out much stronger this time with multiple opportunities and controlled the flow with multiple good passes and attempts on goal. Irish freshman goalie Blake Kelly turned away multiple point blank attempts as his side struck first in the opening 45 minutes. The Hoosiers broke the door down halfway through the second period as the game went off the rails with three scores in a couple of minutes.

Michael Nesci and Tommy Mihalic scored in quick succession on breakaways for a 2-1 lead before ND equalized almost immediately. As a result another top-notch matchup between two of college soccer’s best ended in a draw.

Mihalic said while he loved his team’s effort, he doesn’t understand why so many opposing keepers seemingly have career nights against the Hoosiers.

“I don’t know what the goalies eat before our games,” Mihalic said. “The goalie had unbelievable saves. He is a freshman. He’s gonna be phenomenal.”

Indiana’s schedule lightens up now as they host Yale on Sunday at 8 pm. The team sits at 0-1-1 after their toughest two game stretch of the season.

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Postgame press conferences can be seen below: