IU Outlasts Chivas in Penalty Kicks
8/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 18, 2012
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - A 1-1 draw after regulation led to a penalty kick shootout, where the Indiana men's soccer team was victorious 4-3 over Chivas de Guadalajara Saturday night at the Shindigz National Soccer Festival in Fort Wayne, Ind.
"This was a real fun game tonight," said head coach Todd Yeagley. "Chivas is an excellent team; exactly what we had hoped for. They pushed us in every way possible. And we made a decision, we could sit and make it difficult for them to break us down, or we could press and be more aggressive. That's the way we like to play.
"And we learned a lot tonight on how a team can break that down if you are not good with your positioning. It was a great exercise for our players."
With neither team able to find the back of the net in the second half, the squads set up for penalty kicks. Both the Chivas player and Eriq Zavaleta were successful in round one, but A.J. Corrado had his attempt saved in round two, giving Chivas a 2-1 lead.
Goalkeeper Luis Soffner successfully saved Chivas' third and fourth shots, while Nikita Kotlov and Caleb Konstanski hit the back of the net for IU. Chivas made its fifth attempt, but Jacob Bushue ended the match with his shot in the lower left for a 4-3 win.
Indiana was on the attack early as less than three minutes in Zavaleta sent in a header that was saved. The Hoosiers would continue to run at the goal but couldn't connect on that final pass, with both teams combining for a total of two shots in the first 12 minutes.
Kotlov was active for the Hoosiers in the half, keeping the Chivas defenders off balance. In the 17th minute it was again Zavaleta lurking around the net, putting up another shot that was cleared off the line in a last-second effort from the Chivas defense.
Zavaleta finished the game with five shots, all of which were on frame. Kotlov and Konstanski took two shots each shots.
The Hoosiers kept the ball in the Chivas half and it paid off as less than 30 seconds later a serve from Harrison Petts found the head of Konstanski, who sent it over the goalkeeper for his first goal of the preseason.
"On the first service I didn't get what I wanted out of it, and then I saw Harry got the ball out wide," Konstanski said. "He whipped it in and I just tried to get a head on it back post, and it went in."
Chivas finished the half with five shots, most of which came from distance as goalkeeper Luis Soffner easily gobbled up the attempts. The senior tallied three saves over the first 45 minutes, none of which tested his skills. Indiana finished with six shots in the half, five of which were on frame.
With 7:02 to play a ball from Zavaleta was chased down by Kotlov 18 yards from goal. The sophomore out-ran his defender to the ball but sent his shot right at the goalkeeper.
With the game clock stopped at one minute, Chivas got on the board after a scramble in the box led to a shot into the upper right. That was the final play of the half.
It was all Chivas in the second half as the Mexican club held a 12-4 advantage in shot attempts. However, just three of those shots were on frame, with a pair of saves from Soffner and a clearance off the line from Konstanski with 12:30 to play.
Indiana's most dangerous scoring opportunities in the second half came in stoppage time as Zavaleta got off a shot that forced a diving save from the Chivas `keeper. Also in stoppage Konstanski got his foot on the ball in a scramble in front of the net, resulting in another save.
Chivas finished with a 16-10 overall advantage in shot attempts, with both teams putting seven attempts on frame. The teams also took an identical four corner kicks.
The Hoosiers officially open the 2012 season this Friday as they travel to St. Louis, Mo. for the Saint Louis University Tournament. The Hoosiers will face the host Billikens at 8 p.m. ET Friday, followed by Cincinnati at 2 p.m. ET Sunday. The Indiana-Saint Louis match will be streamed on SLUBillikens.com.
Players Mentioned
