Stop me if you’ve heard this before — a rocky August and September for Indiana men’s soccer followed by an impeccable October run, capped off by a stinging loss in the NCAA Tournament by the finest margins in November or December.
The 2024 season can be clumped with ones of the past, and for the senior class that just played its last match Saturday, the stinging feeling returned after a 1-0 loss against No. 3 Denver in the Sweet Sixteen.
“You can’t really sum it up in a postgame talk,” head coach Todd Yeagley said after the loss to the Pioneers.
Indiana finishes the year 11-5-5, winning its 19th Big Ten regular season championship, sharing it with Ohio State. In the grand scheme of things, it’s another successful season with plenty of memorable moments and matches, but it’s hard to grasp that thought so soon after the season ended earlier than expected.
The past four seasons, all different in their own right, have ended in a speechless, shattering loss in the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet Sixteen or later. Twice via penalty kicks (Syracuse in the 2022 National Championship, Notre Dame in the 2023 Elite Eight), once on golden goal (Washington in the 2021 Sweet Sixteen), and now a tight 1-0 loss to Denver in a match where there were only seven total shots.
Looking at the bigger picture, they’ve all followed the same trend. A slow start, an incredible October winning streak to propel the team to a chance to win at least a share of the Big Ten on the final day, and a crushing loss to one of the best teams in the country.
In August and September, the now-seniors (Patrick McDonald, Sam Sarver and Tommy Mihalic, who have been with the team all four years), combined for a 14-9-11 record, compared to 24-2-8 in October and 17-1-6 in the final two months of the calendar year. Overall, the 2024 senior class had a .690 win percentage, winning 55 matches in four years.
“Great legacies for the seniors,” Yeagley said.
While they could never win a national title, McDonald, Sarver, Mihalic, along with transfers such as JT Harms and Jansen Miller, did make it to the biggest stage in college soccer two years ago and were a kick away from doing it again a year later. They won three Big Ten titles (two regular season and one postseason), continued the longest streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in the country, advanced to at least the Sweet Sixteen each season, extending a decade-long streak and added to the comprehensive list of achievements for the nation’s best college soccer program.
It’s been no secret that the season-ending losses have come with razor-thin margins. This year marks the first time since 2018 that Indiana’s last match wasn’t decided by golden goal or penalties, breaking a five-year streak. IU lost to Maryland 2-0 in December of that year in the College Cup semifinals.
But the streak of not winning a national title will have to go on for at least another year. The roster will look a lot different come next August.
IU will have to replace a ton of talent up front, as 25 of the 41 goals came from players who are now out of eligibility, including seven from graduate forward and Northwestern transfer Justin Weiss. There will be a new starting goalkeeper and centerback with the departures of Harms and Miller, and who knows what the transfer portal will look like.
But, one thing is for sure. Indiana will be ready to be one of the top contenders again next fall, as the quest for the ninth star will continue.
