Ninety minutes was not enough time for IU men’s soccer and Penn State to decide a victor for the Big Ten Championship. Neither was a double overtime.
IU, however, held on to its reining title and sealed the deal with a 3-2 shootout.
This was the third straight Big Ten Title for the Hoosiers.
Before all the chaos ensued after regulation time, IU had an energetic first half thanks to sophomore forward Victor Bezerra.
Bezerra was the culprit responsible for all of the Hoosiers’ shots in the first half. His first look on goal came when he launched a midfield shot after noticing Penn State’s sophomore goalkeeper Kris Shakes was off his line. Bezerra’s shot had too much umph and flew above the top goal post, keeping the score at 0-0.
Bezerra had another look later in the half, but this time directly in front of the goal. The ball bounced off the ground and over the net for another miss, and IU failed to convert on the corner kick.
Finally, Bezerra saw his shot rattle the back of the net with five minutes left in the half. With the help of sophomore forward Maouloune Goumballe, who drove the ball down the sideline, and an assist from sophomore forward Ryan Wittenbrink, Bezerra put a brisk shot past Penn State’s goalie.
Penn State was unable to answer IU’s goal, ending the half with IU leading 1-0.
Bezerra carried his energy into the second half, adding three more shots to his resume before taking a break on the bench. The IU forward was not the only forward to bring momentum to the second half, however, as Penn State’s junior forward Danny Bloyou started to heat up.
Bloyou saw an opportunity to score in the middle of the half, but it was knocked out by sophomore goalkeeper Roman Celentano for a Penn State corner kick. The Nittany Lions nearly converted on the corner, but the header shot fell above the top bar.
The anticipation for Penn State to finally land a shot was building as Bloyou found himself near IU’s goal multiple times. Penn State’s big opportunity came as Bloyou broke to the goal causing IU’s last line of defense freshman defender Joey Maher to grab Bloyou’s jersey, giving him a red card and exile from the game.
Penn State failed to get the penalty kick past IU’s defensive wall, but they later tied the game 1-1 after Penn State sophomore forward Liam Butts found the net off a corner kick with under 10 minutes left in the game.
With the Nittany Lions riding high with a one man advantage, the Hoosiers were unable to score again, ending the game tied 1-1 while overtime in the championship game became a reality.
After IU failed to land three corner kicks at the start of the first overtime, it was clear one overtime was not going to be enough to determine a winner, sending IU and Penn State into double overtime.
Double overtime wasn’t enough either. IU and Penn State continued into a shootout.
Ultimately, the Hoosiers claimed their third straight Big Ten Championship by going 3-1 on penalty kicks while Penn State missed its final shot, putting them below IU at 2-3 for penalty kicks.
This win marks the 15th Big Ten title for the IU men’s soccer program.
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