It’s a match every Big Ten college soccer fan has marked on their calendar each year: Maryland-Indiana. The two premier programs in the conference over the last decade meet once again on Friday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
While this match in prior seasons had massive implications for the Big Ten Tournament, the September date allows both sides to add a marquee win in just the second conference game.
Taking a look at the Terrapins
It can’t get much worse than last year, right? The team picked to win the conference in 2023 finished last and didn’t win any of its eight Big Ten matches, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 after finishing 4-8-3 overall. The 2-1 home loss to the Hoosiers late last fall sealed the Terrapins’ fate as the only team not participating in the Big Ten Tournament.
No. 21 Maryland has started 2024 on the right foot. The Terps are 3-1-3 to this point and, like Indiana, 1-0 in conference play after taking care of No. 8 Wisconsin 3-0 last Friday.
The Terps did lose their two best players from last year. Stefan Copetti, someone who haunted Hoosier fans for years, graduated. Copetti scored the late equalizer the last time the teams played in Bloomington to snatch the outright Big Ten regular season title away from Indiana.
Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Kimani Stewart-Baynes also departed, having been taken by the Colorado Rapids with the 4th overall pick of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. Stewart-Baynes and Copetti combined for eight goals and 10 assists last year.
In net, the Terps have leaned on true freshman Laurin Mack so far after last year’s goalkeepers Jamie Lowell and Mikah Seger both departed. Mack has started six of Maryland’s eight matches, with Brown transfer Hudson Blatteis occupying the cage for the other two.
Just like Indiana, Maryland brought in 12 freshmen and transfers, looking to shake things up after last year’s disappointment. One of those additions, Max Rodgers, leads the team with seven points in the early going after being named to the All-Ivy League first team last season with Yale.
Sharing the wealth
Maryland only scored 20 goals last year and had just seven different goal-scorers. Through eight matches in 2024, the Terps have found the back of the net 13 times and nine different players have been on the scoresheet, creating much more of a lethal attack from different contributors.
Indiana has seven goals after playing the same number of matches, and just four Hoosiers have scored after Sam Sarver notched his first Tuesday night in Indiana’s 1-1 draw versus Evansville that really should have been a win.
Indiana has had plenty of chances to find the back of the net more than seven times, but a pair of missed penalties and other indecisive decisions have cost the Cream and Crimson. Maryland has converted both their spot kicks so far in 2024, while Indiana is 1-for-3.
Home, sweet home
Friday marks the Terrapins’ first trip outside the Old Line State, nearly a month into the campaign. After a 1-1 draw at UMBC in the season opener (a hardly arduous 45-minute bus ride), Maryland has played six (!) straight matches at Ludwig Field. After losing 2-0 to No. 16 Georgetown in the home opener, the Terps have defeated Detroit, Brown and No. 8 Wisconsin, while drawing 1-1 to both Virginia and San Diego State.
Indiana’s first trip outside the Hoosier State last year was not a fun one — a 1-0 loss to South Florida — after starting the season with four straight in-state tests. Maryland will need to perform better than both teams have looked away from home if they want to pull the upset and get revenge after losing the past two matches at home to IU — both 2-1 scorelines. Indiana beat top-seeded Maryland in the Big Ten semifinals two years ago after failing to clinch a share of the regular season title.
Maryland has had plenty of rest to get ready for the match, with a full week off following the dominant win over the Badgers. Indiana will be ready for the bright lights and look to brush off the early-season woes against one of, if not their biggest, rival in the Big Ten. The match, to nobody’s surprise, will be televised on the Big Ten Network and kicks off at 7 p.m.
