Thanksgiving is all about tradition. Food, family and friends, football and fun. Indiana men’s soccer, a team built on the tradition of excellence, has spent Thanksgiving together for the last decade in preparation for a Sweet Sixteen match (excluding 2020, when the season was postponed to the spring).
This year is no different, and after a Thanksgiving meal together in the Tudor Room, a “hidden gem“ in the IMU according to head coach Todd Yeagley, the No. 14 Hoosiers will hit the road and battle it out with No. 3 Denver on Saturday afternoon for a spot in the quarterfinals, which would be Indiana’s third straight and 30th all-time.
Taking a look at the Pioneers
Denver has been a force to be reckoned with in the now five-team Summit League. Since joining the conference in 2013, the Pioneers have won 10 regular season titles and eight tournament titles. Denver narrowly missed out on a ninth tournament title this season, losing to Kansas City 2-1 in the championship match two weeks ago. The Pioneers are 13-3-4 overall and went 7-1 in conference play, winning the league by five points for the second straight year.
Denver and Indiana have three common opponents this year — UCLA, Washington and Yale. Both the Pioneers and Hoosiers defeated Yale at home (4-1 for Denver, 2-0 for Indiana) and drew Washington 2-2 (although the Pioneers earned that point in Seattle, instead of Bloomington). Denver played UCLA to a scoreless stalemate in Los Angeles while the Hoosiers beat the Bruins 2-1 in late October.
There are some other teams that Denver has played this year that Indiana is familiar with in years past — Portland, Omaha and Pittsburgh are a few of them.
Terrific twosomes
Indiana and Denver feature two of the five active players who have eclipsed 20 goals and 20 assists in their careers: seniors Sam Sarver and Sam Bassett. Sarver has accumulated 24 goals and 22 assists, while Bassett has recorded 23 goals and 25 assists. Bassett and fellow senior Oje Ofunrein each have eight goals this year. The two of them combined for 16 of the Pioneers’ 39 goals scored and 13 of the 52 assists, meaning just over a third of the total team points (two for a goal, one for an assist) have come from Bassett and/or Ofunrein.
As a team, Denver has conceded just 17 goals, less than one per match, and is led by junior Isaac Nehme in goal. Nehme has played all but 32 minutes this season and has a save percentage of .667, accumulating six clean sheets this season.
Traveling out west
The biggest challenge for Indiana will be the location of the match. It’s the first time in program history the two teams meet in the Mile High City. Indiana won both prior meetings — 2-1 in 2011 and 2019 in a tournament hosted by Notre Dame.
Thankfully, the conditions are looking much nicer than they are in Bloomington on Saturday afternoon. Temperatures are expected to range from the mid-40s to the low-40s during the match, with mostly sunny skies. Although playing 5,280 feet above sea level may be a challenge, Indiana has already won a match this year while traveling multiple time zones — the aforementioned win at UCLA.
The last trek out west for an NCAA Tournament match was not a memorable one, as Indiana’s season came to an end against No. 2 Washington, 3-2 in extra time in 2021, despite leading twice.
Indiana hopes its tradition of winning continues, as it is back on its “normal rhythm” according to Yeagley with a week to prepare, instead of 17 days between the Michigan loss in the Big Ten Tournament and win against Akron in the Round of 32 last Sunday. The match, which can serve as an appetizer to the Bucket Game, kicks off at 4 p.m. Eastern and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
