Indiana's home opener was nothing short of a classic. While the Hoosiers did not get the win, the game ending in a 2-2 draw, IU looked great for most of the match.
On the flip side, their opponent, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, also looked sound for the majority of the contest. With both teams playing this well, especially in the second half, it's no surprise that the game ended in a deadlock with two goals apiece.
Head coach Todd Yeagley said after the game, "the guys gained a lot of confidence" and that this one "would have been an amazing win, but a tie will be fine."
It was an incredible atmosphere inside Bill Armstrong stadium, with students and local fans showing out for the first home match of the 2024 season for the Hoosiers. Despite the 30 minute delay, it was a completely packed house inside the Bill, as this match against Notre Dame was surely circled on many fans' calendars as it was an Elite 8 rematch from just a year ago.
Yeagley commented on the crowd by saying "it was amazing" and that "the Bloomington fans came out strong."
The Hoosiers were solid on the attack early on, with key passes being made by Sam Sarver and Patrick McDonald throughout the first half. Despite this, Notre Dame goalkeeper made some tremendous saves, as freshman Blake Kelly prevented Tommy Mihalic from scoring a brilliant header with an even more brilliant diving save.
Mihalic commented on the Irish keeper, saying, "he had an unbelievable save" and that "he's a freshman, he's going to be phenomenal." This became a theme throughout the game as, while only a freshman in his first collegiate game, Kelly made his mark, although to the disliking of the Hoosier fans in the stands.
Moving to the attacking side of Notre Dame, the Irish only created a few small chances early on, with the Hoosiers controlling the ball for much of the first half. This didn't matter for Jack Flanagan, though, as a small breakaway turned into a sensational goal from outside the box in the 43rd minute of the game.
This sent the Hoosiers down 0-1 going into the half, but Milahic mentioned that the locker room was "superpositive" and "no heads were down." He also said that "we knew if we got our firs goal, we'd get another one."
That is exactly what happened in just a 35 second span, as Michael Nesci equalized in the 68th minute and then immediately after the equalizer, Tommy Mihalic scored a brilliant unassisted goal to take a 2-1 lead.
Mihalic said how scoring his first goal of the season "felt great" and that if he's scoring he's "confident in being a huge part of this team."
Coach Yeagley said that he was "fired up" and "it was a blast" mentioning that he was "in it with them" and he could "sense" another goal was coming, just like Mihalic mentioned earlier.
Now with a 2-1 lead, the Hoosiers were looking to hold on a win a rivalry match with just twenty minutes left, although that lead would hold for not even two minutes, as Notre Dame equalized to make it 2-2.
This goal was off a set piece from a free kick, with Hoosier fans booing after a questionable foul call that resulted in the chance and eventually the tying goal.
Yeagley said after the game, "we still don't know what happened" when asking about the confusion during the supposed foul call.
The game now knotted up 2-2, both teams were looking for the win with a late goal, but to no avail, as the game stayed tied and resulted in a draw.
For Notre Dame, their second draw in as many matches, while for IU, the Hoosiers move to zero wins, one loss and one draw.
This was a solid bounce back performance from the Hoosiers, as their first match did not go as planned, losing at ST. Louis in a game that was never particularly close, finishing 2-0.
Yeagley said "if we take a tough loss, you usually don't see us falling again" and that was true here. Although IU didn't get the win, the Hoosiers looked to be back to the team they knew they could be in an impressive performance against an impressive opponent.
IU's next match will be at home against the 2023 Ivy League champion, Yale. The match is slated for Sunday, September 1st at 8 p.m.
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