The last time Indiana and Michigan met was in a thrilling Big Ten Tournament Semifinal a year ago. In a back and forth affair, the two teams combined for seven goals, ultimately resulting in a 4-3 Hoosier win thanks to Maouloune Goumballe’s goal in the 87th minute. Fast forwarding to 2024, Indiana came out ready to play, scoring four times in the first half before scoring a fifth in the 80th minute to close out a 5-0 win. The Hoosiers had four different goal-scorers, picking up their largest win over the Wolverines since 2000.
Here are my three takeaways:
Justin Weiss breaks through
Something that Todd Yeagley has used to his advantage over the past few years has been the transfer portal. After losing Karsen Henderlong and Goumballe last season, Yeagley added Northwestern grad transfer Justin Weiss.
Northwestern’s leading scorer a year ago, the Hoosiers had high hopes for Weiss coming into the season. While having 15 shots with no goals coming into the match, it was only a matter of time before he scored his first for the cream and crimson.
Weiss opened the scoring in the fifth minute off a corner kick from Patrick McDonald. Michigan goalkeeper Hayden Evans was unsuccessful in his punch attempt to clear, leading to an easy tap in goal for No. 7.
The fun didn’t stop there for Weiss as he would score his second goal of the night 26 minutes later. After a nice pass from Sam Sarver, Weiss took two beautiful touches to create space around a Michigan defender, setting him up for a perfect strike that went into the back of the net.
With Weiss scoring the 20th and 21st goal of his career, Indiana is now one of two programs with three active 20-career goal scorers. The others are Tommy Mihalic with 22 and Sarver with 21. What a momentum building game this could be for Weiss.
Flaming-hot October
Since 2021, Indiana boasts a record of 21-4-6 in the month of October. Unbeaten in its last six games, the Indiana attack has come alive, scoring 15 goals in just this month alone.
After a slow start to the attack to begin the season, in each of Indiana’s last five matches, a different Hooiser has scored a brace. The braces were scored from Collins Oduro at Wisconsin, Quinton Elliot vs. Washington, Mihalic vs. Kentucky, Charlie Heuer vs. Penn State, and Weiss at Michigan. It’s an incredible trend from a strong Indiana attack.
Along with the braces in the month of October, the Hoosiers have had seven different goal scorers, two of whom joined the stat sheet against Michigan (Weiss and Breckin Minzey).
The last time Indiana had scored five in a match against a Big Ten opponent came in 2017 versus Rutgers.
The Hoosiers' depth and leadership has been crucial in its run and Tuesday night’s throttling win is going to add momentum to the plate down the stretch.
The Hoosier defense has been strong
For the first time this season, Indiana has managed to get back-to-back shutouts. Against Michigan, the Hoosiers allowed only nine shots with two being on goal. The Indiana backline has been stout, not allowing many chances from its opponents. The Hoosiers held Kentucky and Penn State to a combined 10 shots, two of which were on frame. Indiana hasn’t allowed a goal in the last 235 minutes of play.
One of the key defenders this season has been Jansen Miller. The reigning Defensive Player of the Week, Miller has been a rock on the backline for the Hoosiers. The senior plus defender has contributed three assists in the past three games, giving Indiana a big boost.
Other contributors on the backline have been Elliot and Minzey who both scored or assisted against the Wolverines. The explosiveness and skill from the Hoosier backline has allowed them to get into the attack to create chances.
After picking up its fourth Big Ten win of the season, Indiana moves to 4-1-2 in conference play and 6-3-5 overall. The Hoosiers currently sit at second place in the Big Ten standings with 14 points, only behind Maryland with 16. Indiana returns to Bill Armstrong Stadium where it’ll look to continue its hot stretch against the Michigan State Spartans. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
