Oct. 29 is now becoming a holiday for the Indiana men’s soccer team as for back-to-back seasons, they have clinched the Big Ten regular season title on that day. With a 6-1 win over Northwestern and a little help from around the conference, Indiana secured title No. 19 for the regular season.
Heading into the evening, the Hoosiers held the top spot in the conference, however, they had played one more match than the competition for first place — Maryland and Ohio State. Stars may not have been visible over Bill Armstrong Stadium, but they sure did align for the Hoosiers to claim the title.
Ohio State vs. Michigan State
The first of the cards to fall was in Columbus, Ohio where the Ohio State Buckeyes were taking on the Michigan State Spartans.
The Spartans saw themselves trailing 1-0 in the 13th minute as David Wrona of the Buckeyes put one away.
It would take a little over 50 minutes of game time for the next goal, yet a dramatic stretch led to Michigan State leading 2-1. In the 63rd minute, Sean Kerrigan put one away and just two and a half minutes later, Richie Ludwig gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
Ohio State was able to pull for the draw with some late heroics as David Ajagbe scored his sixth goal of the season, keeping the Buckeyes’ hopes of a share alive. Now that the first domino had fallen, it was on to Piscataway, New Jersey where Rutgers was hosting Maryland.
Maryland at Rutgers
Rutgers had been riding a four-match losing streak and found themselves sitting dead last in the conference prior to this match. A close-proximity rivalry and a chip on their shoulder propelled the Scarlet Knights to a 2-1 win over the Terps.
This match had plenty of drama as with four — yes four — seconds remaining in the first half a penalty kick was called in favor of Rutgers. Maryland’s head coach Sasho Cirovski was infuriated by the call and got a red card after arguing with an official.
Rutgers was able to take a 1-0 lead heading into the break as Ian Abbey put the penalty kick away.
Nico Rosamilla added some juice for the Scarlet Knights with a low strike from the top of the box to take the 2-0 lead in the 63rd minute.
Maryland made the comeback effort adding a goal of its own, but in the 87th minute Rutgers was awarded yet another penalty as this time Aidan Flynn added the insurance, locking in the 3-1 scoreline and the Scarlet Knights’ victory. The second domino had fallen for Indiana.
Indiana vs. Northwestern
The scorching hot Hoosiers kept their flame alive and well against Northwestern in dominant fashion, winning 6-1 and securing, at a minimum, a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
“I think it was a little sweeter, yes, because I think there were some people that were writing us off a bit and saying Indiana this and that…it’s a dangerous thing to do,” said Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley, who has now won six regular-season titles and 11 total.
The boots were rolling for Indiana as Sam Sarver opened up the scoring with his fifth goal of the year from a strong rip deep outside the box.
Leading goal scorer of the Hoosiers Tommy Mihalic became the first player since Ryan Wittenbrink in 2022 to surpass 10 goals as the senior forward bagged two goals in the first half. The first was another powerful strike from outside of the box, and just three minutes later the poacher put away a penalty kick giving the Hoosiers a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the half.
“It feels like our season is almost just beginning, because there’s so much ahead,” Mihalic said.
Braces (a player scoring two goals in a match) have become quite common around the team as Justin Weiss was able bury two goals in the second half against his former team.
“I told him it’s just another 90 minutes, we got to go out and get our result…he was motivated to play for a title,” Yeagley said about Weiss playing his former squad.
Weiss has really come into form as of late after being the Wildcats’ leading goal scorer last season, it took him some time to get situated with the back of the net at Indiana. The forward has now scored in four straight matches while putting six goals away in that span.
“I think we’re hitting stride, but unfortunately for the rest of the country I think we have a lot to show,” Weiss said.
Freshman Charlie Heuer was able to get the sixth and final goal of the evening as the Hoosiers understood the task at hand for the end of the season. On Sunday, Ohio State and Maryland play each other, and if Ohio State wins, they will be the top overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
“We knew the scenario, we didn’t dance around with it…we started going for more goals because of the goal situation, and maybe in the end it may end up being too short,” Yeagley said.
Now Indiana and Ohio State drew each other earlier in the season, so the next tie breaker becomes goal differential. If Ohio State beats Maryland by one, the Hoosiers and Buckeyes have the same goal differential, same amount of points, and a draw between each other.
The final straw is likely common opponents in which Indiana lost to Maryland 1-0 earlier in the season, so if the Buckeyes were to win that is where they would get the edge.
This program is built on the backs of history. A seemingly endless legacy continues for Indiana men’s soccer as they have added another chapter to the decorated resume that is really second to none in the conference.
Indiana still has one remaining regular season match against Trine, however, because they are Division III, there is no effect on the RPI rankings for that one. All that remains is Senior Night, and then another ride into the postseason for Yeagley and the Indiana Hoosiers.
