Quite an offensive display today albeit was against a weak Dayton squad. Very nice scoring from Zavaleta, Wise, Kotlov. Again we dominated the ball at midfield and got several easy chances by long runs and good passes down the sidelines. Defense was pretty darned good and Dayton was only able to muster two or three dangerous situations. Very good communication among the players and a really beautiful display of footwork as IU simply dominated possession. In the opener, SLU and ND went to overtime tied 1-1 and SLU won in sudden death in the 1st overtime, which makes our easy win over SLU look even better. We should move up in the rankings after this display of offensive power. Is it just me or is Zavaleta reminding me a lot of Will Bruin with a bit more speed and just a hair less physicality ? Go Hoosiers
Posted on 9/4 5:29 PM | IP: Logged
Great to see goals coming off team play and out of the midfield. Really felt like quality IU soccer again for the first time in a long while. Always frosted me in the interim years watching us give up our obvious technical advantages knocking long balls and trying to score off pure speed. I hate that style of game even when it works. For me IU's best days combine toughness and technical precision with surgical combinations... thanks to the coaches for bringing back the IU vibe -- the team that always seemed to have done their homework, eaten their peas, etc.
I know the offensive MVP went to EZ, but for me, Harrison Petts was outstanding throughout the weekend, the kind of attacking organizing presence all great teams seem to have. Maybe the most impressive thing about these games has been the chemistry and buy-in it seems the coaches have elicited from these mostly young kids. You get the feeling they know what their roles are already, and are making such better decisions playing within themselves than in recent years. Looking forward to the season... doubtless there will be rough patches, but you just get the feeling the corner has been turned.
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