No. 22 Indiana men’s soccer wasted no time setting the tone for its season opener, rolling past Notre Dame 3-1 Thursday night at a packed Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The Hoosiers did it the hard way, too: with their attack shorthanded and their defense carrying the load from start to finish. Senior Collins Oduro and junior Stephane Njike were both out, so Indiana leaned heavily on a back line that looked composed from the opening whistle and never really let the Irish settle in.
The crowd of 7,078 watched Indiana keep its unbeaten regular season streak against Notre Dame alive, a run that has held since 2017. Head coach Todd Yeagley framed the night simply afterward: “I told them,” head coach Todd Yeagley said postgame.
“This is your chance. Make them fall in love with you.”
That message fit the way Indiana played. The Hoosiers were on the front foot early, and after the first 10 minutes produced just two shots total, one from each side and neither on target, the game gradually tilted in Indiana’s favor. The defense was so locked in that nearly 25 minutes passed before Notre Dame put its only first-half shot on goal in play, an easy one for junior goalkeeper Michal Mroz.
Indiana also got a debut-heavy look in the back. Six Hoosiers wore the eight stars for the first time Thursday, including junior defender Nick McHenry, who was part of a first starting backline that also featured senior Alex Barger, junior Josh Maher and redshirt sophomore Nolan Kinsella.
The breakthrough came from senior Oliver Moller-Jensen, whose opening goal was his first as a Hoosier. From there, Notre Dame’s back line started to crack. The Irish allowed five shots on goal over the final 30 minutes of the first half, and junior goalkeeper Blake Kelly had to rescue them repeatedly, including a strong top-left save in the 31st minute.
But Indiana kept pressing. Junior forward Easton Bogard scored as the rain started falling in Bloomington, pushing the Hoosiers further in front, and the attack kept humming after halftime. Indiana put six shots up in the first 15 minutes of the second half, and the sixth finished off Moller-Jensen’s second goal of the night.
“We did our due diligence on him, a lot of scouting,” Yeagley said. “He’s better than we thought.
We thought he was going to be really good. I’m really excited.”
The pace slowed after that, but Indiana’s defensive shape never loosened. Notre Dame managed only two non-penalty shots on goal in the second half, and Mroz stopped both. Yeagley credited the collective work behind him.
“It was a team effort,” Yeagley said. “I thought Alex (Barger) and Wes (Carnevale) won a lot of duels in close space really well.”
Notre Dame did find a late consolation in the 83rd minute, when fifth-year midfielder Vlad Walent converted a penalty kick to make it 3-1. By then, though, the result had long been settled.
Mroz’s first night in an Indiana shirt ended with three saves on four shots on goal. The Hoosiers limited Notre Dame to 13 shots overall and leaned on a defense that controlled the match in every important moment.
“Attackers win games, defense wins championships,” Moller-Jensen said postgame. “If you don’t have a defense like we do, a solid foundation from the back, we’re not going to be as comfortable.”
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