NCAA Elite Eight Men’s Soccer Matchup: Who are the Indiana University Hoosiers?

Hall SportsJennifer Steele

The Indiana Hoosiers men’s soccer team represents Indiana University Bloomington. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and play their home matches at the Bill Armstrong Stadium.

The Hoosiers are one of the most successful collegiate soccer programs in the history of the sport. The Hoosiers have won eight national championships in men’s soccer (1982, 1983, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2012). They have also dominated conference play. Since the Big Ten began sponsoring men’s soccer in 1991, Indiana has won 13 Big Ten tournament titles. Indiana has also been crowned regular season champion 15 times, including nine-straight seasons from 1996-2004.

This season the Indiana University Hoosiers have an overall record of 10-1-2 with their conference record being just as dominating with 7-1-0, also managing to stay undefeated on their home field. Their road to the NCAA Tournament has been more traditional as they won their conference, receiving an automatic bid to the tournament. The Hoosiers dominated the Big Ten Conference Tournament defeating opponents Northwestern and Maryland, 3-0 and 2-0 respectively. The championship game gave the Hoosiers something to worry about as Penn State sent the game into a double overtime locked at 1-1. The game ended on PKs with the Hoosiers winning out 3-2, sending them to their 45th tournament appearance, hoping for their ninth championship title in program history.

As the tournament kicked off, the Hoosiers received a bye in the first round. The second round they were met by the St. Francis Brooklyn College Terriers. Indiana managed to sneak by the Terriers after an OT victory shootout in PKs 3-1. The third round was a face off with Marquette who was not able to see past the 90-minute regulation time limit as the Golden Eagles fell to a 1-2 loss. Marquette scored the first goal of the game coming out of half time, but the Hoosiers managed to match them with a goal from Herbert Endeley (71’). Not too long after, the game had been decided with help from Maouloune Goumballe (80’).

The Hoosiers bring a ton of talent to the field as they will face off with the Pirates. Their top player, Victor Bezerra, seems to be their leading man, notching 12 goals on the season with no other player coming close at all. He has received numerous accolades such as: Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Tournament and Big Ten All-Tournament Team. It is going to be crucial for the Pirates’ defense to shut him down. For the Pirates to win this game, they will need to get by goalkeeper, Roman Celentano, who has allowed just five goals this season with a .898 save percentage. Whoever wins this match will be deserving of a spot in the final four of the tournament.