Indiana Soccer: Hoosiers Rally to Beat Marquette 2-1, Advance to Elite 8
CARY, N.C. – Indiana had to come from behind to keep its men's soccer season alive on Thursday, scoring two late goals to beat Marquette in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
With the win, the No. 2-ranked Hoosiers (10-1-2) advanced to their third Elite 8 in the past four years and are seeking their ninth national championship, but their first since 2012. The Hoosiers, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, will play six-seed Seton Hall on Monday at 5 p.m. ET in the quarterfinals.
The Hoosiers, who had allowed only four goals all season, fell behind in the 44th minute on a Marquette goal, but dominated play in the second half and got goals from Herbert Endeley in the 71st minjte and Maouloune Goumballe in the 80th-minute to advance.
"The message of the day was really in just how well we responded,'' Indiana coach Todd Yeagley said. "Obviously that was a tough goal to give up before the half, but at half we kind of willed the guys to empty the tank out there in the second half. We made a couple of key playss, and I thought we did a great job of managing the lead once we had it.''
Yeagley thought the Hoosiers were a bit too tentative in the first half, and didn't create many chances.
"We weren't sharp enough with our final passes, and we didn't have enough guys in the box at times,'' Yeagley said. "They dropped and gave us a little bit of time (in the first half). We did a good job at times, but we were a little slow in getting into it. We didn't play with enough conviction, to be honest, and didn't get enough guys in the box. We were better with that in the second half, and it helped.''
"We made a couple of key plays and that was the difference. We just kept digging and digging, and a lot of our young guys were able to respond in a big game. That was a lot to overcome.''
Indiana star Victor Bezerra got plenty of extra attention from the Marquette defense, and he failed to score a goal for the first time in five games. He had scored six of Indiana's seven postseason goals coming into the game.
But he still had an impact, making a beautiful pass that led to the Endeley goal that tied the game.
"Victor made a special pass, and the sophistication of the pass was something,'' Yeagley said. "It wasn't his best day and obviously they were keying on him, but it was a great job by Herb to finish that. We've been working on that a lot.''
Goumballe's 80th-minute winner was set up on a nice attack by Ryan Wittenbrink, who kept the ball alive deep in the Marquette half and played a cross through the 6-yard box that Goumballe deflected into the goal, his second score of the season.
"It was nice to see a couple of other guys get on the score sheet,'' Yeagley said.
Yeagley said he was thrilled with how his team responded in the second half to keep their season alive.
"I felt the second half, some of the leaders with their mentality and their focus, gave us an edge,'' Yeagley said. "And Joey (Maher), for being a true freshman, he's so focused and has a team-first mentality and that really helped us having him back (after missing the opening NCAA game because of a red card). It allows us to move (Brett) Bebej around, and we really need that flexibility with Spencer (Glass) out.''
Indiana's path to that ninth title was aided a bit by No. 1-seed Clemson losing on Thursday, falling on penalty kicks to Marshall. Six of the eight top seeds have advanced to the quarterfinals.
Games are being streamed live on NCAA.com
Thursday's third-round results
- Marshall 1, No. 1 Clemson 1 (Marshall wins 7-6 on PKs)
- No. 2 Pittsburgh 4, Central Florida 0
- No. 3 Indiana 2, Marquette 1
- North Carolina 1, No. 4 Stanford 0
- No. 5 Wake Forest 2, Kentucky 1
- No. 6 Seton Hall 2, Virginia Tech 2 (Seton Hall wins 7-6 on PKs)
- No. 7 Washington 2, Missouri State 0
- No. 8 Georgetown 3, Penn State 2
Monday's quarterfinal games
- No. 2 Pittsburgh vs. No. 7 Washington, 1 p.m. ET
- No. 8 Georgetown vs. Marshall, 1 p.m. ET
- No. 3 Indiana vs. No. 6 Seton Hall, 5 p.m. ET
- No. 5 Wake Forest vs. North Carolina, 5 p.m. ET
- All games played at WakeMed Field in Cary, N.C.