No. 1 Indiana Men’s Soccer Welcomes Creighton

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 1-ranked Indiana Hoosiers (2-0-0) play hosts to the annual adidas/Indiana Credit Union Classic with a total of four games being played on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium over Labor Day weekend. The tournament will open with Ohio State taking on Xavier in a neutral site affair at 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 3. That game will be followed immediately by the top-ranked Hoosiers and the Creighton Bluejays (0-2-0) at 8 p.m. ET.

A stream of the match will be available on B1G Network +. Live stats will be available at IUHoosiers.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana edged in-state rival Butler with a 1-0 victory on Aug. 31 on the strength of a 29th-minute goal from sophomore defender Joey Maher. The goal came off a free kick cross from redshirt defender Spencer Glass. The original pass was flicked on by Maher but the ball found the crossbar before junior midfielder Brett Bebej rifled a rebound shot. The take was blocked by Butler before Maher was able to clean it up for his first career goal.
• Junior goalkeeper Roman Celentano was forced to make two saves in the first five minutes of the match but was not tested the remainder of the match to secure his first shutout victory of the season.
• Sophomore reserve defender Lawson Redmon saved the day with a save in the 67th minute after Celentano was forced off his line. The no goal call was reviewed on the field, but the call stood and preserved the IU victory.
• Indiana opened the season with a 2-0-0 record for the third-straight season and the fifth time in the last six seasons.
• In the 38 seasons of the Classic, the Hoosiers have compiled a record of 40-19-16 (.640 winning percentage). Indiana is 7-0-1 in the last four seasons the event has been held.

NEWS AND NOTES
• Freshman midfielder Tommy Mihalic was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week after scoring a pair of goals against Notre Dame to open the season.
• The two-goal effort by Mihalic made it back-to-back seasons with a season-opening brace from a Hoosier. Junior forward Victor Bezerra scored a pair to open the 2020-21 season against Wisconsin at Grand Park on Feb. 19, 2021. Prior to that, the last Hoosier to open the season with a brace was Blake Rodgers in 1991 against Butler.
• The OT win over Notre Dame marked the first IU victory via golden goal since redshirt junior Ryan Wittenbrink walked it off against Michigan on March 27, 2021 and also gave head coach Todd Yeagley 150 victories in his 12 seasons at Indiana. He holds a record of 150-50-40 (.708 winning percentage) at the helm of the Hoosiers.

ABOUT THE BLUEJAYS
• The Bluejays are managed by third-year head coach Johnny Torres. The 2008 graduate of Creighton holds a career record of 14-15-2 at his alma mater. He rose to the head coaching ranks after serving as an assistant coach for 12 seasons with the team.
• Creighton is led by reigning BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and senior forward Diego Gutierrez. He led the Bluejays with 16 total points (5 goals, 6 assists) last season.
• The program also returns four players that earned All-BIG EAST second team honors in 2020 in senior midfielder Charles Auguste, sophomore forward Duncan McGuire, senior defender Musa Qongo, and senior midfielder Callum Watson.
• Senior keeper Paul Kruse has surrendered six goals in two starts this season. He holds a save percentage of .714 with 15 total stops through two matches.

SERIES HISTORY
• The two squads have met eight times on the pitch with each program winning four times. Three times the teams have met with NCAA Tournament implications with IU holding an edge of 2-1-0 in the three matchups.
• The last time the two sides played, Indiana scratched out a 1-0 result over then No. 12 Creighton in the College Cup semifinal on Dec. 7, 2012. Freshman forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen scored the winning goal in the 27th minute. Senior keeper Luis Soffner made two saves in the shutout victory.
• The Hoosiers would go onto defeat No. 3 Georgetown (1-0) to secure the program's eighth star just two days later.

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No. 1 Indiana Men’s Soccer Welcomes Creighton

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Players Mentioned

Brett Bebej

Victor Bezerra

Roman Celentano

Spencer Glass

Joey Maher

Tommy Mihalic

Lawson Redmon

Ryan Wittenbrink