DIPRIMIO – College Cup Bound – IU Edges Notre Dame 1-0 in Elite Eight Thriller

Friday, November 30

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM

Indiana University

20-2-1

Notre Dame

11-7-3

Notre Dame

Indiana

DIPRIMIO – College Cup Bound – IU Edges Notre Dame 1-0 in Elite Eight Thriller

11/30/2018 10:57:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - No way senior midfielder Austin Panchot would miss. Not from point-blank range in Friday night's Elite Eight second-half soccer thriller against No. 13 Notre Dame.

No way senior midfielder Francesco Moore would sit out the full 90 minutes in his last college home game. Not with these College Cup stakes and the Hoosiers in need of an Armstrong Stadium spark.

So Moore inspired, Panchot scored -- on a header off assists from Andrew Gutman and Trevor Swartz – and No. 1-ranked Indiana delivered a 1-0 victory to advance to its record 20^th College Cup, and second straight.

"With Frankie, it's always a boost to get him on the field," Panchot said. "He's a warrior. He's always ready to play. He has his mind right He's like all of us. We all want to win."

The Hoosiers (20-2-1) will face Maryland (11-6-4), which advanced with a 1-0 win over Kentucky, next Friday in Santa Barbara, Calif.

IU got the better of Maryland in both meetings this year -- 2-1 during the regular season at Armstrong Stadium and in a PK shootout in the Big Ten tourney semifinals.

"It's a relief," Gutman said about advancing. "For me, right away the mind switches -- who do we play? We'll enjoy this and tomorrow we get back to work and start thinking about Maryland."

Victory sent students pouring onto Yeagley Field. They were among the crowd of 5,159, the eighth largest ever at Armstrong Stadium.

Victory also saw the Hoosiers deliver a water cooler drenching to coach Todd Yeagley, and an escape move by Panchot, who wanted no part of an outdoor bath to celebrate his fifth goal of the season and second straight game winner.

"I was on the move," he said. "I saw Coach get it, and I got out of there."

Panchot's goal fired up himself … and his coach.

"That was really fun," Yeagley said. "I had a moment there, too. I had a couple of emotional moments. That was one. I usually don't get that animated, but I did."

Emotion also included Moore, who has been limited by a lingering injury in recent weeks. Yeagley knew playing Moore Friday night could turn a nagging injury into a season-ending one, so the plan was to put play him in the second half if he was needed.

He was.

"He has so much presence it's hard to put a measure on it," Yeagley said. "He gives us a different edge.

"It was risking Frankie for the group with the understanding that he'd be fine knowing the team is advancing. Fortunately, he feels good. We can get him ready for Friday."

It was no coincidence, the coach added, that IU scored shortly after Moore entered the game.

"Superman came in. That's what I told him. I'll put you in when we need you to put the cape on.

"It's his presence and his organizational skills. We needed to make a jolt.

"That kid is the biggest winner. His presence immediately made a difference on the field. He made plays. It turned the game."

Added Gutman: "Frankie calmed us down. That changed the game for us. And once we got that goal, we weren't going to give it up."

IU had controlled early play against its previous three opponents, and the result was three dominant victories.

Domination vanished against Notre Dame (11-7-3), which pushed the Hoosiers to the limit in a mid-September 2-1 IU overtime victory, and then again for the game's first 60 minutes

Still, the Hoosiers found a way.

"That was fun," Yeagley said. "These games are about as special as they come. To get our seniors to have that last experience at home, you can't do any more here.

"They students were unbelievable. They maybe made us play a little anxious in the first 30 minutes, but I'll take that."

The Irish got the match's first shot and dictated much of the early action. Indiana needed a spectacular save by Trey Muse, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, to keep the match scoreless at halftime.

"We were trying to make too many big plays for the crowd," Gutman said. "At halftime, we said we have to play our game. We took a deep breath. We have to play better and connect passes."

The Hoosiers picked up the pace to start the second half with a pair of early shots. The Irish countered with a shot of their own.

Then Indiana took charge. Its first corner kick of the game came 12 minutes into the second half. It didn't produce a goal, but it set a tone. Griffin Dorsey just missed on a header with at the 60-minute mark.

A few minutes later, Moore came in. A minute or so after that, Panchot scored and Hoosier offensive pressure escalated. They finished with an 8-1 edge in second-half shots, 12-5 for the game.

"Notre Dame is a fantastic opponent," Yeagley said. "We knew it would be tight. In the second half we started to grab ahold of it.

"Everyone stepped up in the last 25 minutes. I felt if we got one (goal), that would be all we needed. Our team defense has been so good."

Has it ever. IU has allowed just two goals in the last 10 matches. It finished 12-0 at home this season with a 28-3 edge in goals.

As a result, the Hoosiers are two wins away from a ninth national title.

"This gives us a lot of confidence to keep it going," Muse said. "It was the right time to get another shutout. I think we're ready for (the College Cup)."

NOTABLES
• With the victory, Indiana advances to the NCAA Tournament College Cup for the second-straight season and for a NCAA-record 20^th time in program history.
• The back-to-back College Cup appearances for IU is the first since 2003-04.
• Indiana improves to 28-10-1 (.731) all-time in the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
• IU also improves to 91-32-5 (.730) all-time in NCAA Tournament matches. IU's winning percentage and victories are both NCAA records.
• Indiana's 20 victories on the season are the most for the program since going 21-3 in 1999.
• IU's Trey Muse recorded his 12^th solo shutout of the season, giving him 30 for his career. Muse ranks in a tie for fifth all-time in school history in career shutouts.
• With his assist, Trevor Swartz has a NCAA-leading 16 for the season. Swartz 16 assists are the most for any Hoosier since Sean Shapert had 17 in 1989. His 16 assists rank in a tie third all-time in school history with Armando Betancourt.
• Swartz's six assists in the NCAA Tournament this season is an Indiana program record.
• The Hoosiers are unbeaten (24-0-2) in the team's last 26 matches at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium, including a mark of 12-0-0 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 12-0 record at home this season is the first unbeaten and untied season for IU at Armstrong Stadium since going 8-0 in 1998.

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