Just under a year ago, Maryland’s Stefan Copetti scored a game-tying goal against Indiana that felt more like a game-winning goal, considering it turned out to win the Big Ten regular season for the Terrapins. That was on the final day of the regular season in Bloomington.
In Friday night’s match, the stakes were a lot different considering the Terrapins entered the match at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, but Copetti again scored a game-tying goal. It wasn’t to win the conference but at the time it may have denied Indiana a chance at hoisting the trophy if the 1-1 score held.
The only difference between this year’s match and last year’s was there was more time left on the clock. Instead of three minutes, there were 21 minutes on the clock for Indiana to find another goal.
Narrator: Indiana would go on to find that game-winner and keep its title hopes alive.
And just like Sunday’s win over Ohio State, Indiana would score the second goal in the final 10 minutes. The source — one that has scored plenty of big goals this year — was Sam Sarver.
Sarver’s 83rd-minute strike propelled Indiana to a 2-1 win and bumped the Cream and Crimson up to second in the conference standings with just over a week to go. For the third straight conference match, Indiana scored the match-deciding goal after allowing the opponent to equalize at one apiece.
But, a match between two usual college soccer giants didn’t necessarily live up to the hype until the Hoosiers found the breakthrough. After the first 45 minutes, there were only three combined shots. Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski said heading into halftime on the TV broadcast the first half was exactly what he was looking for — a sluggish, defensive battle played in the rain. He wanted Indiana to have to grind it out in order to come away with a victory and that certainly turned out to be the case.
The Hoosiers scored off another restart as Alex Barger scored his first career goal, the second straight match where IU got a goal that way after failing to do so in the previous 12 matches.
As expected, Maryland would not waver knowing its season was essentially on the line. The Terrapins played very well after conceding and got a goal in the 69th minute via Copetti, his fifth of the season. Indiana had chances to clear the ball on the exquisite counterattack but the ball bounced right in front of Copetti who scored right on the doorstep.
From there, Maryland continued to push for a second, coming inches away from the back of the net a few times but it just wasn’t there for last year’s regular season champions. The match and the missed chances summed up Maryland’s season quite nicely.
Sarver had the last laugh as he cut onto his weaker left foot inside the box and while falling to the slippery ground put it past Mikah Seger for his sixth goal of 2023.
Sarver scored both game-winners this year on the road against perennial powerhouse Penn State and Maryland.
JT Harms made four saves and even without Hugo Bacharach, who did not play due to the shoulder injury he suffered against the Buckeyes, Indiana held on for all three points to improve to 7-3-4 overall, 3-1-2 in the Big Ten while dropping Maryland to 0-5-2 in conference play.
Indiana’s win Friday night, coupled with Michigan State’s 2-1 victory over Northwestern means not only do the Hoosiers control their own destiny to win the conference outright, but they can clinch a share of the title as early as Tuesday if results go their way in the next few days.
The Hoosiers need help in order for that to happen but the first step is to beat the Wildcats Tuesday at Martin Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
