DIPRIMIO - Swartz ‘Assists’ Latest Indiana Soccer Victory

Sunday, November 25

Bloomington, Ind.

12:00 PM

Indiana University

19-2-1

Air Force

17-5

Air Force

Indiana

DIPRIMIO - Swartz ‘Assists’ Latest Indiana Soccer Victory

11/25/2018 3:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Trevor Swartz couldn't help himself.

Even amid NCAA soccer tourney pressure, No. 1-ranked Indiana's senior midfielder had to give his coach a good-natured verbal shot.

So when Swartz registered two quick first-half assists to give him 15 on the season during Sunday's 2-0 win over No. 20 Air Force, one more assist than head coach Todd Yeagley had ever recorded in a season during his All-America playing career, Swartz let him know it.

"He waves at me and says, 'I gotcha, Coach," Yeagley said.

"I gave him a hug," Swartz said with a smile, "but I had to rub it in a little."

Yeagley was fine with it, especially with the Hoosier soccer juggernaut continuing to roll.

"It's like a goal scorer," Yeagley said about Swartz's knack for delivering assists. "He's so confident and it's because of his success. He works at it. He's diligent after practice working on uncontested restarts.

"He finds the open spots. He's a student of the game. He's locked in. He could be an excellent coach. His attention to detail is as good as anyone on our team. We put him everywhere, and he gets the job done, and he's getting it done way outside of the assists."

Yeagley might not be the only Hoosier great Swartz passes before it's over. On the IU single-season assist record list, only Sean Shapert (18 in 1987 and 17 in 1989) and Armando Bentacourt (16 in 1980) have more.

What's the secret to assist success?

For starters, Swartz said with a touch of humility, it's not having superstar ability.

"Ever since I was growing up playing, I was never the most athletic. I wasn't the quickest, so you have to think fast. You have to see the passing lanes. Through my whole life I had to do that. It's paid off and it's paying off right now."

Added senior defender Timmy Mehl, who was a beneficiary of one of those Sunday assists: "We all have confidence that Trevor will hit the spot."

The Hoosiers (19-2-1) continue to dominate some of the nation's best teams.

They have outscored their last three opponents 9-0, which would be impressive at any point in the season, let alone in Big Ten tourney title match and NCAA Tournament play.

"It's all connecting right now," senior midfielder Austin Panchot said. "We're clicking on all cylinders.

"We're in our best form of the year. We're ready to take on any team that comes our way."

Panchot did his part on Sunday by scoring the game's first goal less than six minutes into the match. It was his fourth goal of the season.

"No one puts in more energy than Panchot," Yeagley said. "That's a fit Air Force group and he was still the fittest guy on the field. He's relentless.

"It's all coming together at the right time for him."

And for the Hoosiers in their quest for a ninth national title.

"We're playing with a bit of an edge," Swartz said. "The experience from last year, for us eight seniors, we have to win. We don't want this to end. We want this to go out with our ninth star."

Boosting IU postseason prospects even more is the return of All-Big Ten sophomore forward Justin Rennicks, who provides an offensive spark to an already formidable attack along with a shut-down defense few teams can match.

Rennicks missed three matches while participating for the U.S. Team in 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship in Florida.

He made the most of that opportunity by starting in all eight matches with four goals and five assists.

Before that he'd made major contributions for the Hoosiers with six goals in 17 matches.

He was back on Sunday and contributed three shots, one on goal.

"It was good to have Justin back, especially for this game," Yeagley said. "Things couldn't have worked out better."

IU is 23-0-2 in its last 25 home matches. It is 11-0 at Armstrong Stadium this season, outscoring opponents 27-3 in that stretch.

"At the beginning of the season we had a couple of rough patches," Mehl said about the defense, "but the communication is better. That's the key. If we organize well, we don't give up many shots."

Or, as Yeagley put it, "We got beat on some back-door movement, but someone was there to help. That's a sign of a good team."

Postseason opportunity had helped ignite Air Force's offense. It beat Central Arkansas 4-0 in its NCAA tourney opener before stunning No. 8 Denver 2-1.

But the Falcons (17-5) hadn't faced the likes of IU's defense, which has allowed only 11 goals all season. Their first shot on goal didn't come until 11 minutes were left in the first half. They finished with nine shots. IU goal keeper Trey Muse only needed to make one save in 90 minutes.

Still, Yeagley said, "Air Force was every bit the challenge we thought. They have a great desire and a will to compete. You'd expect nothing less."

That meant putting the heat on Air Force from the start.

"We want to get back to the national title game and win it," Swartz said. "This is a tough environment for Air Force to come in to. We wanted to show them that right away."

The Hoosiers did. An Andrew Gutman midfield steal set up a Rennicks shot that smacked off the crossbar two minutes into the match. That momentum led to a Panchot goal off assists from Swartz and Mehl for a 1-0 lead three minutes later.

The Hoosiers pushed ahead 2-0 midway through the first half on Mehl's header off another Swartz assist.

That was more than enough for IU to advance.

The Hoosiers will host a NCAA Tournament quarterfinal match next Friday or Saturday against the winner between No. 13 Notre Dame (10-6-3) and No. 11 Virginia (10-3-3). A victory would propel them to the College Cup (it's set for Dec. 7-9 in Santa Barbara, Calif.) for the second straight season and 20^th time overall.

"We don't talk about it a lot, but this was the first time I mentioned Santa Barbara to them, that it's 90 minutes away," Yeagley said.

"It's important to stay in the moment, but they're one step closer to an opportunity."

NOTABLES
• With the victory, Indiana advances to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the second-straight season and for the 27^th time in program history.
• Indiana improves to 27-10-1 all-time in the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
• IU also improves to 90-32-5 (.728) all-time in NCAA Tournament matches. IU's winning percentage and victories are both NCAA records.
• The Hoosiers are unbeaten (23-0-2) in the team's last 25 matches at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium, including a mark of 11-0-0 this season. IU's last loss at home came on Nov. 27, 2016 to No. 20 Virginia Tech, 2-1, in overtime in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Indiana's 19 victories on the season are the most for the program since going 19-4-1 in 2004.
• Trevor Swartz's 15 assists this season are the most for any Hoosier since 1989 and rank fourth-most on the program's single-season list.

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