The No. 2 Hoosiers defeated No. 14 Michigan on Sunday afternoon to move into first place in the Big Ten standings.
IU was looking for a bounce-back win after a dismal display against Kentucky earlier last week, and things couldn’t have gotten much better in Ann Arbor on the weekend.
Rece Buckmaster scored the lone goal of the game after a great buildup play in the midfield by the Hoosiers. Indiana is now 10-2 overall on the season and 4-0 in Big ten play, its best conference start since 2004.
Here are three takeaways from IU’s victory over Michigan.
WATCH ➡️ Beautiful finish from Rece Buckmaster to give the No. 2 Hoosiers the lead at No. 14 Michigan.#Q49 #GoIU ⚪️? pic.twitter.com/eCgWP6Fta0
— Indiana Men's Soccer (@IndianaMSOC) October 7, 2018
The Bounce Back IU Needed
IU returned to its usual dominance against Michigan on Sunday. The Hoosiers played pretty comfortably for the majority of the match, and Michigan struggled to get anything going offensively. There were a few chances that the Wolverines had, but not much came out of any of them.
This was the type of game IU desperately needed to return to its previous form. Three points from a Big Ten road game is impressive enough, but IU knocked off a quality Michigan team that came into the matchup in first place in the conference. The Hoosiers propelled themselves to the top of the Big Ten as well.
Return to Aggressiveness
Not much more could’ve gone wrong for Indiana in its 3-0 loss against Kentucky last week, but the Hoosiers returned to their usual aggressiveness Sunday afternoon. Senior defender Andrew Gutman was racing down the left sideline once again, and sophomore attacker Justin Rennicks looked a lot more confident as well.
Kentucky made IU pay for overlapping on the wings, but Sunday was a different story. Michigan couldn’t contain the runs that were being made on the sidelines. Senior defender Rece Buckmaster got on the scoresheet for the third time this season as well.
Michigan Got Hit with the Rico
Did I mention Buckmaster scored? The senior right back got on the scoresheet once again this season after a beautiful buildup play that involved AJ Palazzolo, Frankie Moore and Griffin Dorsey. Buckmaster was great against Michigan even outside of his goal.
"Defenders don't score..." #iums@Rico_da77: pic.twitter.com/4ZlS5fA9qA
— The Hoosier Network (@TheHoosierNet) October 7, 2018
He made it hard for the Michigan wingers to do anything on the right side of IU’s formation and was once again a rock along with the rest of the back line. He made some great runs down the side, and he wasn’t caught out of position like he was a few times against Kentucky.
Buckmaster has quietly had one of the best — if not the best — season out of any IU player thus far. He's one of the most reliable players on the roster right now and will surely be eyeing an All-Big Ten First Team selection.
