Indiana Defeats UConn, Advances In NCAA Tournament

Sunday, November 22

Bloomington, Ind.

12:00 PM

Indiana University

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UConn

10-6-6

UConn

Indiana

Indiana Defeats UConn, Advances In NCAA Tournament

11/22/2015 3:19:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Ben Maurey wishes his first Indiana goal would have come sooner.

But a game-winner in the NCAA Tournament is a nice enough consolation.

The senior forward found the back of the net for the first time this season in the 39^th minute to give No. 16 Indiana a 1-0 win over UConn and help the Hoosiers advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. They'll travel to play No. 1 Wake Forest in Winston Salem, N.C. next weekend in the round of 16.

Maurey's goal—which came just two minutes after he subbed into the game—was assisted by freshman defender Andrew Gutman, who dribbled around a defender and rifled a cross in along the goal line. All Maurey had to do was stick his left foot out around the 6-yard line and deflect the ball into the goal.

"Just to be able to say that I scored with this jersey on in front of the crowd on this field, it means a lot to me," Maurey said. "I would have liked to score earlier, but it's a great game to get it in."

After scoring his goal, Maurey turned and ran toward the Indiana bench, raising a closed left wrist toward the press box in celebration. Before the game, he and a handful of other teammates wrote "K.S." on their taped wrists as a nod to senior midfielder Kyle Sparks, who may be unavailable for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery.

"We did it for Kyle," Maurey said. "This game was for Kyle."

The opening third of the match resembled Indiana's 2014 NCAA Tournament loss to Xavier with the Hoosiers' attack seemingly getting opportunity after opportunity without capitalizing.

In the first 10 minutes of the game alone, Indiana had two shots blocked by UConn defenders, one shot go just wide, another carom off the crossbar and two saved by Huskies' keeper Scott Levene. But after seven shots on goal, Maurey finally broke through.

"We were going to score no matter what," sophomore defender Grant Lillard said. "It was going to happen."

UConn struggled to retain possession beyond the midfield for most of the game. The Huskies registered just seven shots, with most of their scoring opportunities either coming by result of Indiana's own defensive missteps or a late push when they started pushing numbers late.

Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said UConn's struggles were another sign of how strong Indiana's backline has gotten as the season has gone on, but Lillard also took time to credit IU's team defending. The Huskies' attack wasn't able to string together enough passes in their attacking end of the field to pose serious threats on goal.

Colin Webb went the duration of the match only needing to make one save in the 72^nd minute of what was otherwise a relatively tame day for the junior goalkeeper. The Huskies' final effort in the closing seconds was a header from Levene, who was pulled up the field on a corner, that sailed harmlessly over the net.

"Going forward they struggled a little bit because we had good communication, good lines," Lillard said. "We were tough to break down. They were still hanging the ball around, but they weren't really going anywhere."

UConn head coach Ray Reid said his team came out too slow for his liking before a stronger effort in the second half that came too late. He also said his team's fatigue might have been a factor, considering it was the Huskies' fourth game in eight days and five starters were out with injury.

"We were kind of tired," Reid said. "I'm not making excuses, give Indiana credit. But we knew it would be very tough to come in here in our current state and beat Indiana."

Yeagley said the first win of the NCAA Tournament is often the most difficult one, especially with a team that relies on as many young players as Indiana does.

He added that he was pleased with his team's composure even after hitting a wall early to come back and find the goal they needed.

The Hoosiers have six 1-0 wins on the season. Would Yeagley have liked his team to score on a few more of their chances early? Sure.

But he'll take advancing to the third round any way he could get it.

"In the tournament, 1-0 wins are the best. They're the best games," Yeagley said. "This group's really confident in a really good way."