Indiana University Athletics
Unbroken – Overtime Defeat Won't Define Hoosiers
5/18/2021 10:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana forward Ryan Wittenbrink stared into space while a Marshall celebration swirled behind him.
What could he do?
Fellow forward Victor Bezerra sat on the North Carolina Sahlen's Stadium turf, sweat dripping, eyes vacant, as if the frantic final seconds of Monday night's soccer national championship game could be changed.
They couldn't.
The aftermath of third-seeded Indiana's 1-0 overtime defeat to unseeded Marshall Monday night stung hard.
"It's my last game," senior defender A.J. Palazzolo said. "It sucks to go out like this."
A pause.
"I love this team."
It was IU's eighth championship game loss to go with its eight titles. Each defeat was painful, but this one had the added challenge of overcoming a pandemic and enduring countless COVID-19 tests in bubble conditions.
The Hoosiers (12-2-2) handled all of it, plus a barrage of Marshall shots, until the final minutes of the first overtime session.
"They gave us a lot of challenges," coach Todd Yeagley said. "Their ability to ask tough questions of us defensively was the (difference)."
He paused.
"That was hard. It was there for us."
IU had solid scoring chances with three shots each from Bezerra and forward Herbert Endeley, two headers by defender Daniel Munie.
They couldn't convert.
"We knew Herb could create problems," Yeagley said. "He was a handful, particularly in these last few games. We had a moment where he was so close to getting through."
Another pause. It was the second time in the last four years the Hoosiers have lost a national championship in overtime.
"Marshall is an older team than we are," Yeagley said. "That might have helped them at key times."
As the game went on, players cramped, bodies crashed and tension grew.
This was nothing new.
Both teams had played cliffhangers to reach the championship game, a series of one-goal and penalty-kick contests that suggested overtime was the fitting conclusion.
And so it was.
"We battled," Palazzolo said. "It just didn't go our way.
"It's tough to go out like this. We have to keep heads up because we have a hell of a team.
"Marshall is a great side. We did everything we could to win that game. We defended our (butts) off. It was the hardest I've ever seen this team work.
"We had belief. It's unlucky to be on the other end of it."
A riveting first half produced no goals, but plenty of drama with breakaways, a hit goal post, a near-miss header and another spectacular goal-stopping save from Roman Celentano.
And that was just from the Hoosiers.
IU opportunities came and went into the second half, and as they did, pressure grew.
It was nothing new.
The Hoosiers bore the weight of championship expectations that stretched nearly half a century, which meant it was business as usual.
Yeagley tapped into that before the game by telling his players winning was in the program's DNA, and if that clashed against scientific sensibility, it resonated with a group determined to add to the rich tradition.
Marshall was fueled by underdog ferocity that had already taken out No. 1 Clemson, defending NCAA champ Georgetown and perennial national contender North Carolina.
It was directed by a coach -- Chris Grassie -- who first rose to acclaim at the Division II level before turning the Thundering Herd (who entered the game with a total of five NCAA tourney victories in their history, 90 fewer than Indiana) into a Division I champion behind a heavy dose of international players.
"Indiana caused us problems on the counterattack," Grassie said. "We kept doing our thing and got more and more chances."
Marshall had a 16-8 advantage in shots, 8-1 in shots on goal.
Celentano, who was named the College Cup's outstanding defensive player, had seven saves. He needed eight.
"When the ball went in," Grassie said, "it felt surreal. It was like, what do I do now?"
The Hoosiers' national championship bid was rooted in their first from 1982, when standouts such as Paul DiBernardo, Joe Schmid and John Stollmeyer led the way.
In truth, it went back much farther.
The Hoosiers' first taste of soccer came in 1947 as a club sport, but things didn't get really interesting until Jerry Yeagley took over in 1963. It took him 10 years to convince IU to make soccer a varsity sport, nine more before the Hoosiers won that first national championship.
More titles followed under Jerry Yeagley, then Mike Freitag (a former IU All-America) and now Todd Yeagley.
More seem certain to come. This is a young team (only four seniors on the 30-man player roster), and while some players will graduate and others will leave for professional opportunities, the Hoosiers are built to reload not rebuild.
"I'm confident we'll get back to this in the near future," Yeagley said, "and that the next group will take the torch and get us there."
For now the focus was on this team, which mostly won hard rather than easily. Four victories came by one goal, two others came via penalty kick shootout.
"This team grew each week," Yeagley said. "We had to do more defending than some of our teams in the past.
"Kids come here to play in these games. To be in our 21st College Cup, to do the things this program has done, although it's difficult in this moment, everyone is proud of them."
A 70-minute delayed caused by Santa Clara's penalty kick win over Florida State in the women's title game didn't faze either team.
Early on Marshall (13-2-3) played to its nature, which meant possessing the ball, even if it was in its half of the field.
IU also played to its nature -- chase on defense, wait on offense, counter-attack with Endeley (the game-winning hero against Pitt three days earlier).
The Thundering Herd managed two early shots before IU got its first shot -- from a streaking Endeley who broke through the defense and was just wide on his attempt. He quickly followed with a pass to a streaking Bezerra who also was wide on a shot.
A few minutes after that, a Munie' header hit the goal post.
Three great scoring chances, and no goal to show for them.
Then it was Marshall's near-miss turn. Only a spectacular diving save by Celentano prevented a goal.
Endeley followed with another just-wide shot.
The Thundering Herb went into full-attack mode, forcing Celentano to make four saves by halftime.
IU just missed a goal before halftime. Munie's header in front of the goal from a Bezerra corner kick was just wide.
Yeagley's halftime message was on point -- pick and choose attack moments, control the tempo, finish.
The Hoosiers tried. Bezerra's early shot on goal off a free kick from the top of the 18-yard box was saved by Oliver Semmle.
Strong defense from Joey Maher and Brett Bebej denied near-the-goal Marshall chances.
Then came overtime.
Marshall pushed hard in those extra minutes until All-American Victor Dias blasted an in-the-box shot. Celentano deflected it, but couldn't smother it. Jamil Roberts was there to put it away for his third game winner of the tournament, his fourth of the season.
"It was déjà vu," Roberts said. "Luckily I was at the right place at the right time."
As for the Hoosiers, "We played to our strengths," Palazzolo said. "At Indiana, we grind. We just got a little unlucky."
Unlucky?
Perhaps.
Beaten?
For one night, yes.
Broken?
Not a chance.
"When you get a taste of how close this team was," Yeagley said, "you want more.
"Our young guys will learn from it. They'll pass it on. In this program, you learn how to win, how to have discipline and how to be selfless, and you have an awesome time doing it. Those are things we'll get back to."
@IndianaMSOC
For all the latest on Indiana University men's soccer, be sure to follow the team at @IndianaMSOC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
#GoIU
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana forward Ryan Wittenbrink stared into space while a Marshall celebration swirled behind him.
What could he do?
Fellow forward Victor Bezerra sat on the North Carolina Sahlen's Stadium turf, sweat dripping, eyes vacant, as if the frantic final seconds of Monday night's soccer national championship game could be changed.
They couldn't.
The aftermath of third-seeded Indiana's 1-0 overtime defeat to unseeded Marshall Monday night stung hard.
"It's my last game," senior defender A.J. Palazzolo said. "It sucks to go out like this."
A pause.
"I love this team."
It was IU's eighth championship game loss to go with its eight titles. Each defeat was painful, but this one had the added challenge of overcoming a pandemic and enduring countless COVID-19 tests in bubble conditions.
The Hoosiers (12-2-2) handled all of it, plus a barrage of Marshall shots, until the final minutes of the first overtime session.
"They gave us a lot of challenges," coach Todd Yeagley said. "Their ability to ask tough questions of us defensively was the (difference)."
He paused.
"That was hard. It was there for us."
IU had solid scoring chances with three shots each from Bezerra and forward Herbert Endeley, two headers by defender Daniel Munie.
They couldn't convert.
"We knew Herb could create problems," Yeagley said. "He was a handful, particularly in these last few games. We had a moment where he was so close to getting through."
Another pause. It was the second time in the last four years the Hoosiers have lost a national championship in overtime.
"Marshall is an older team than we are," Yeagley said. "That might have helped them at key times."
As the game went on, players cramped, bodies crashed and tension grew.
This was nothing new.
Both teams had played cliffhangers to reach the championship game, a series of one-goal and penalty-kick contests that suggested overtime was the fitting conclusion.
And so it was.
"We battled," Palazzolo said. "It just didn't go our way.
"It's tough to go out like this. We have to keep heads up because we have a hell of a team.
"Marshall is a great side. We did everything we could to win that game. We defended our (butts) off. It was the hardest I've ever seen this team work.
"We had belief. It's unlucky to be on the other end of it."
A riveting first half produced no goals, but plenty of drama with breakaways, a hit goal post, a near-miss header and another spectacular goal-stopping save from Roman Celentano.
And that was just from the Hoosiers.
IU opportunities came and went into the second half, and as they did, pressure grew.
It was nothing new.
The Hoosiers bore the weight of championship expectations that stretched nearly half a century, which meant it was business as usual.
Yeagley tapped into that before the game by telling his players winning was in the program's DNA, and if that clashed against scientific sensibility, it resonated with a group determined to add to the rich tradition.
Marshall was fueled by underdog ferocity that had already taken out No. 1 Clemson, defending NCAA champ Georgetown and perennial national contender North Carolina.
It was directed by a coach -- Chris Grassie -- who first rose to acclaim at the Division II level before turning the Thundering Herd (who entered the game with a total of five NCAA tourney victories in their history, 90 fewer than Indiana) into a Division I champion behind a heavy dose of international players.
"Indiana caused us problems on the counterattack," Grassie said. "We kept doing our thing and got more and more chances."
Marshall had a 16-8 advantage in shots, 8-1 in shots on goal.
Celentano, who was named the College Cup's outstanding defensive player, had seven saves. He needed eight.
"When the ball went in," Grassie said, "it felt surreal. It was like, what do I do now?"
The Hoosiers' national championship bid was rooted in their first from 1982, when standouts such as Paul DiBernardo, Joe Schmid and John Stollmeyer led the way.
In truth, it went back much farther.
The Hoosiers' first taste of soccer came in 1947 as a club sport, but things didn't get really interesting until Jerry Yeagley took over in 1963. It took him 10 years to convince IU to make soccer a varsity sport, nine more before the Hoosiers won that first national championship.
More titles followed under Jerry Yeagley, then Mike Freitag (a former IU All-America) and now Todd Yeagley.
More seem certain to come. This is a young team (only four seniors on the 30-man player roster), and while some players will graduate and others will leave for professional opportunities, the Hoosiers are built to reload not rebuild.
"I'm confident we'll get back to this in the near future," Yeagley said, "and that the next group will take the torch and get us there."
For now the focus was on this team, which mostly won hard rather than easily. Four victories came by one goal, two others came via penalty kick shootout.
"This team grew each week," Yeagley said. "We had to do more defending than some of our teams in the past.
"Kids come here to play in these games. To be in our 21st College Cup, to do the things this program has done, although it's difficult in this moment, everyone is proud of them."
A 70-minute delayed caused by Santa Clara's penalty kick win over Florida State in the women's title game didn't faze either team.
Early on Marshall (13-2-3) played to its nature, which meant possessing the ball, even if it was in its half of the field.
IU also played to its nature -- chase on defense, wait on offense, counter-attack with Endeley (the game-winning hero against Pitt three days earlier).
The Thundering Herd managed two early shots before IU got its first shot -- from a streaking Endeley who broke through the defense and was just wide on his attempt. He quickly followed with a pass to a streaking Bezerra who also was wide on a shot.
A few minutes after that, a Munie' header hit the goal post.
Three great scoring chances, and no goal to show for them.
Then it was Marshall's near-miss turn. Only a spectacular diving save by Celentano prevented a goal.
Endeley followed with another just-wide shot.
The Thundering Herb went into full-attack mode, forcing Celentano to make four saves by halftime.
IU just missed a goal before halftime. Munie's header in front of the goal from a Bezerra corner kick was just wide.
Yeagley's halftime message was on point -- pick and choose attack moments, control the tempo, finish.
The Hoosiers tried. Bezerra's early shot on goal off a free kick from the top of the 18-yard box was saved by Oliver Semmle.
Strong defense from Joey Maher and Brett Bebej denied near-the-goal Marshall chances.
Then came overtime.
Marshall pushed hard in those extra minutes until All-American Victor Dias blasted an in-the-box shot. Celentano deflected it, but couldn't smother it. Jamil Roberts was there to put it away for his third game winner of the tournament, his fourth of the season.
"It was déjà vu," Roberts said. "Luckily I was at the right place at the right time."
As for the Hoosiers, "We played to our strengths," Palazzolo said. "At Indiana, we grind. We just got a little unlucky."
Unlucky?
Perhaps.
Beaten?
For one night, yes.
Broken?
Not a chance.
"When you get a taste of how close this team was," Yeagley said, "you want more.
"Our young guys will learn from it. They'll pass it on. In this program, you learn how to win, how to have discipline and how to be selfless, and you have an awesome time doing it. Those are things we'll get back to."
@IndianaMSOC
For all the latest on Indiana University men's soccer, be sure to follow the team at @IndianaMSOC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
#GoIU
Players Mentioned
Defender
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Forward
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Goalkeeper
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Forward
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Defender
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Defender
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Forward
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Forward
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