Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Michigan State
Hoosiers Knock Out Michigan State, 3-0
10/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 24, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. - It was quite the 21st birthday celebration for striker Will Bruin as he scored his 11th and 12th goals of the year and assisted on a third as Indiana took command of the Big Ten Conference race with a 3-0 win at Michigan State Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium.
The win snapped Indiana's (8-4-2, 3-0-1 Big Ten) three match losing streak to the Spartans (11-4-0, 2-3-0 Big Ten) and marked the first time the Hoosiers have scored on Michigan State since the semifinals of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament, a 1-0 Indiana win in East Lansing.
Bruin scored the first goal for Indiana in the 38th minute, his team-leading 11th goal of the season. The play began with Harrison Petts in the middle of the field as he then decided to switch fields and hit Alec Purdie making a run up the right side. Facing one defender Purdie carried the ball down to the goal line where he served it into the box. Andy Adlard got a toe on it and it dropped to Bruin who hit a right-footed shot into the lower left corner.
Sophomore Joe Tolen gave Indiana some cushion with his first career goal, slotting home a shot down the middle in the 53rd minute for a 2-0 Indiana lead. A long ball from the back found Bruin in the right corner and the junior played the ball to just outside the penalty box where he took his chance against Steinlage. The goalkeeper got a hand on it but could not control the shot and the ball bounced free. Tolen was following the play up the middle and with Steinlage out he calmly took his chance.
Indiana closed out the scoring just over 11 minute later with Bruin and Tolen again hooking up on the pitch. Tolen was given plenty of space on the left side by the Michigan State defense and that gave him a chance to serve the perfect ball into Bruin in the box, who headed it home past a helpless Steinlage.
Bruin led the Hoosiers with seven shot attempts, four of which were on frame. Adlard had two shots to go along with his assist.
Indiana's defense was solid afternoon as goalkeeper Luis Soffner was forced to make just one save in 90 minutes for his third shutout of the season. Michigan State has a conference-best 33 goals this season but was limited to just six shots today, and just two in the second half of play. The Hoosiers had to juggle their lineup 20 minutes into the half when Daniel Kelly took a knock and had to leave the game. That moved Rich Balchan over from left back to right back, and Chris Estridge slid back from his wide left midfield position onto the back line. Tyler McCarroll came in off the bench to take over the wide midfield position.
The Hoosiers got the ball into the Michigan State penalty area with Petts getting off the first shot of the day, right to MSU goalkeeper Avery Steinlage for the save.
Adlard was unable to convert a wide-open opportunity when he sent his left-footed shot wide right in the 13th minute. Bruin chased down a long ball into the left corner and dribbled into the box. That pulled Steinlage out of his net and Bruin dished off to Adlard whose soft touch pulled wide of the net.
Purdie had a run up the middle and when the Michigan State defense closed in he played the ball off to Bruin on his right, who saw Steinlage had come off his line and tried to chip him. The shot was just high, leaving the match in a 0-0 deadlock with just over 17 minutes to play in the first half.
Indiana's defense worked together to thwart Michigan State's first scoring chance of the day with 11 minutes to play with goalkeeper Luis Soffner picking up the save on a 1v1 shot from Rubin Bega. The ball spilled out on the save but Balchan beat out a charging Spartan to make a sliding clearance over the goal line.
The Hoosiers wrap-up their regular-season home schedule with a pair of matches this week. The seventh-ranked Butler Bulldogs will visit Armstrong Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 27 for a 7 p.m. contest. Indiana then plays host to Northwestern on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. Senior Day festivities will take place on Sunday with Andy Adlard, Rich Balchan, Cameron Jordan and Daniel Kelly honored prior to the game. A win over the Wildcats will give Indiana the Big Ten regular season title, its first since 2007.
Players Mentioned
