Indiana University Men’s Soccer Wins their 16th Big Ten Tournament Championship
For the 16th Time in 33 years of the Big Ten Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship the Indiana Hoosiers are the Big Ten Champions with a 1-0 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions Sunday Afternoon in the Championship Game of the Big Ten Tournament on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium in front of a season high crowd 4,055 fans. Indiana is 12-4-4 on the season while Penn State falls to 10-4-5 and the NCAA Tournament Selection Show is this afternoon at 1 pm on NCAA.com. This is the first Big Ten Tournament title for the Hoosiers since 2020. Indiana won the title in 1991,1992,1994, 1995,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023. Indiana was playing in its 7th straight Big Ten Tournament Championship Game. The Hoosiers get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will keep their streak alive with their 37th straight NCAA Tournament Appearance and 48th overall in 51 years as a varsity program with an overall record 819-198-116. Indiana has only missed the tournament three times in 1973, 1975 and 1986 with just one losing season in 2013 but made the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Ten Tournament Title. The Hoosiers have been the program standard in College Soccer as the Hoosiers won their 47th Big Ten Tournament game with an overall record of 47-11-3 in tournament play. Their 16th title is 12 more than Penn State who has 4 titles, 3 for Maryland, Michigan State and Ohio State, 2 for Wisconsin and 1 for Michigan, Northwestern and Rutgers. Indiana is 364-71-55 all time at Bill Armstrong Stadium and 76-7-13 with 60 shutouts since 2016. Indiana is one of 8 programs to have over 800 wins along with UCLA, Penn State, UConn, San Francisco, Saint Louis and Virginia.
Indiana got on the board at the 37:38 mark when Samuel Sarver scored his 8th goal on the season when he launched a shot from 20 yards out that went into the right bottom corner past Penn State goalkeeper Kris Shakes to give the Hoosiers the 1-0 lead. Penn State got its first shot in the match when at the 42:15 mark when Ben Liscum’s shot was blocked. The Hoosiers went into the locker room up 1-0 with 9-1 shot advantage and 3-0 shots on goal advantage. Penn State Goalkeeper Kris Shakes made 2 saves and Indiana goalkeeper JT Harms did not make a save. The game was very physical in the first half as the teams committed 10 fouls each and Penn State defender’s Femi Awodesu and Alex Stevenson picked up yellow cards at the 19:44 and 28:57 marks. Indiana had three corner kicks to one for Penn State and neither team was called for offside. In the second half Penn’s State Samuel Ovesen picked up the third yellow card for the Nittany Lions at the 67:59 mark for dissent. Indiana’s Joey Maher picked up a yellow card and the only one in the match for the Hoosiers at the 79:02 mark for unsporting. The Hoosiers held on as JT Harms picks up his 13th Shutout at IU and 15th overall after he transferred from Duke. Fans celebrated with the team on the field and Todd Yeagley was happy that the fans were able to do that. “I Loved that, it’s important when you are a student here that you are able to celebrate a Big Ten Championship with your fans” Todd Yeagley said after the match. Indiana outshot Penn State 18-12 and 6-3 shots on goal. Kris Shakes had 5 saves for Penn State and JT Harms three saves for IU. The Teams committed 15 fouls each. IU had six Corner Kicks to four for Penn State as each team was called for Offsides 1 time each.
The Hoosiers lead the all-time series with Penn State 39-14-6 and have won 4 straight against the Nittany Lions since November 14, 2021, when Penn State beat IU 3-0 in the Big Ten Tournament Championship. The Hoosiers are 11-4-5 all time in Big Ten Tournament matches against Penn State. This was the 9th time that the two teams have meet in the title game with the Hoosiers coming out on top in 1992, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2020 Penn State won in 2006 and 2021. Indiana and Penn State shared the Big Ten Regular Championship this season and the Hoosiers have 34 Big Ten Titles in Soccer with 18 Regular Season titles and now 17 Big Ten Tournament Titles. Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley wins his 197th game in 15 seasons head coach and his 190th as Indiana Head Coach and 14th seasons at his alma mater. His Father Jerry Yeagley won 544 games in 31 years as a coach from 1973-2003. Todd got to facetime with his dad after the game and said it is not health issues that keeps from attending the games. “As a former coach who built this program it is very hard for him because he is so invested and not be able to do anything” Todd Yeagley said after the game. The Hoosiers have bigger goals ahead they want to get back to the College Cup the 23rd time and get to the final game for the 18th time and looking for their 9th National Championship. “I want that third trophy” Maouloune Goumballe said after the game.
Indiana Men’s Basketball hangs on to beat Army
The Indiana Hoosiers survived a scare from the Army Black Knights 72-64 Sunday Night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 2-0 on the season and host Wright State on Thursday Night. Army drops to 0-3 but the Black Knights and first year coach Kevin Kuwik can be proud of the effort they gave in their first ever meeting with the Hoosiers. The Indiana coaching staff wore red sweaters to pay tribute to the Late Bob Knight who started his coaching career at Army before he came to Bloomington in 1971. Kel’el Ware led the Hoosiers with 20 Points, Xavier Johnson added 19 points and Malik Reneau added 14 points. The Hoosiers were 25-43 form the field for 58%, 4-11 from three-point range for 36% and 18-22 from the free throw line for 81%. Indiana pulled down 29 rebounds, dished out 16 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals. The Hoosiers committed 18 turnovers, 36 points in the paint and had 12 points off the bench.
Army was led by Ryan Curry with 20 points going 8-13 from the field and 4-8 from three-point range. Columbus North Graduate Blake Barker added 14 points going 5-13 from the field and 3-9 from three-point range and 1-2 from the free throw line. Charlie Peterson played at North Central HS in Indianapolis scored 9 points and pulled down 3 rebounds. Peterson’s Great Grandfather played at IU and his Grandparents and Parents are IU Graduates. Princeton Indiana Native Matt Dove did not play. Army shot 39% from the field on 24-61 shooting, The Black Knights 13-38 from three-point range for 34% and 3-9 from the free throw line for 33 %. Army pulled down 26 rebounds, dished out 16 assists, 12 steals and no blocks. Army committed 12 turnovers, 20 points in the paint and 11 bench points.
The Hoosiers scored 20 seconds in the game when Kel’el Ware scored on the ally-oop. Army took the lead on a Ryan Curry three pointer with 18:11 left. Curry scored on a driving layup to give them a 5-2 lead. The Hoosiers tied the game on a three pointer by Xavier Johnson with 16:38 left. Charlie Peterson hit a three pointer to put the Black Knights up three with 15:55 left. Xavier Johnson hit two free throws to put the Hoosiers with in one 8-7 with 15:14 left. Josh Scovens hit a three pointer to give Army a four-point lead 11-7 with 15 minutes left in the first half. The game would keep going back and forth as Army led 19-11 with 9:44 left after a Blake Barker three pointer. Army was up 21-14 with 7:55 as the Hoosiers outscored the Black Knights 18-10 the rest of the first half as the Hoosiers took a 32-31 lead into the locker room. In the Second Half Army retook the lead when Ryan Curry hit a three pointer to put Army up one with 19:35 left in the game. The Game was tied 42-42 with 14:21 left when Ware gave the Hoosiers a two-point lead 44-42 with 14:08 left. The Black Knights tied the game at 58-58 when Blake Barker scored driving layup with 3:46 left. Kel’el Ware hit a free throw to give the Hoosiers a 59-58 lead with 3:20 left and Indiana finished the game on 13-6 run.
Coach Mike Woodson went with a smaller lineup down the stretch and he made it clear that the guys that get the job done are the ones who are going to be in at crunch time. “I am going to play guys that want to play and play the right way” Mike Woodson said after the game “That smaller lineup made plays for us down the stretch the first two games and that is what we are going to go with” Woodson Said. Army also is a team that is going to slow the game down and Coach Woodson wants the Hoosiers get up down the floor. “We just can’t live in the halfcourt game, I want to play faster” Woodson said.
Bloomington South beats Evansville North for the Regional HS Football Title
The Bloomington South Panthers beat the Evansville North Huskies 42-21 Friday Night in the Class 5A Regional Championship Game at Fred Huff Memorial Field on the Southside of Bloomington. The Panthers win the Regional Championship for the 12th time in school history and their first since 2019. The Panthers were making their third straight appearance in the Regional Championship after losing to at New Albany 33-14 in 2021 and at Castle 31-14 a season ago. The Panthers knew home field advantage would be a plus since Evansville North was making a 2-hour tip up I-69 to face a Panther squad that it had not face since a 2019 Sectional Semifinal matchup when the Panthers won 49-20. This was the third all-time postseason meeting between the two teams with Bloomington South winning 28-15 in the 1992 regional championship game.
Evansville North wanted the ball first and went down the field as Cainen Northington took off on a 46-yard run to make the score 7-0 with 9:25 left in the first quarter. The Panthers responded a minute and eight seconds later with a Gavin Adams 1 yard run to tie the game 7-7 with 8:17 left in the opening period. Jarrin Alley scored for Bloomington South on a 27-yard run to make it 14-7 Panthers with 5:08 left in the First Quarter. The Huskies out gained the Panthers 141-103 in the opening quarter. Evansville North would tie the game 14-14 with 9:59 before halftime when Sam McKinney found Jason Rucker on a 13-yard touchdown pass. Gavin Adams put the Panthers back on top with 39 seconds left in the quarter when Alley pitched it to Adams, and he scored his second touchdown of the game as the Panthers went into the locker room up 21-14. Evansville North had 185 yards of total offense in the first half and Bloomington South had 168.
In the second half Jarrin Alley threw his first touchdown pass of the night when he found a wide-open Lucas Waldon for 28 yards on a 4th and 10 to give the Panthers a 28-14 lead with 10:08 left in the Third Quarter. Alley connected with Waldon for a second time on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 1:51 left in the third quarter and the Panthers leading 35-14. The Bloomington South defense held the Huskies scoreless and two first downs in the third quarter. Evansville North scored with 8:32 to go in the fourth quarter when Sam McKinney found James Mercer for 87 yards to make it 35-21. The Panthers capped it off with 3:05 left when Gavin Adams scored his third rushing touchdown of the night from 15 yards out to make it 42-21. Evansville North’s final drive stalled out with 1:44 left and their season comes to end at 8-4 and their first regional championship appearance since 2000. Sam McKinney was 13-24 for 222 yards and two touchdowns. James Mercer had 4 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Cainen Northington had 96 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Evansville North finished with 360 yards of total offense.
Jarrin Alley was 15-26 for 239 yards passing two touchdowns and no interceptions along with 22 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Gavin Adams had 29 carries for 117 yards and three touchdowns. Lucas Waldon had 8 catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers finished with 395 yards of total offense. Bloomington South will hit the road Friday Night at 7pm to face the Decatur Central Hawks. The Hawks beat Whiteland 41-7 in their regional championship game at home Friday Night. Decatur Central is 10-2 on the season and won its second regional title and first since 2018.
#15 Stanford routs #9 Indiana University Women’s Basketball in Early Season Showdown
A battle of top 15 Women’s Basketball teams became a one-sided affair as the #15 Stanford Cardinal blew out the #9 Indiana Hoosiers 96-64 Sunday in Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto California. The Cardinal are 2-0 on the season while the Hoosiers drop to 1-1. Indiana will host Murray State on Friday Night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Stanford is 3-1 all time against the Hoosiers and are 2-0 in Maples Pavilion when the Cardinal beat the Hoosiers 87-72 on November 16, 2001. Stanford will come to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall next year as a return game in this home and home series. Indiana’s only win in the series came on December 21, 1980, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina 73-63. Stanford Head Coach and Hall of Famer Tara Vanderveer played at Indiana from 1972-75 under Bea Gorton and she is 3-0 against the Hoosiers as the Stanford Head Coach. Stanford beat Indiana 69-66 on November 25, 2021, in Nassau the Bahamas. Vanderveer has 1,188 career wins in her 45th season overall and 1,036 wins in her 39th season at Stanford.
The Cardinal jumped out a 6-0 lead with back-to-back three pointers by Elena Bosgana two minutes and six seconds into the game. Indiana got on the board with a jumper by Sara Scalia with 7:22 left in the first period. Preseason All-American Cameron Brink scored eight straight points for the Cardinal as she increased the lead 14-4 as the Cardinal led 26-15 after the first quarter. In the second quarter the Cardinal outscored the Hoosiers 28-11 and went to the locker room leading 54-26. Preseason All-American Mackenize Holmes was held scoreless in the first half. Stanford outscored the Hoosiers 21-16 in the third quarter to lead 75-42 at the end of the third quarter. In the Fourth Quarter Indiana outscored the Cardinal 22-21 as the Cardinal dominated the Hoosiers from start to finish. Kiki Iriafen posted her second double-double in two games with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Brink scored 20 points and pulled down 17 rebounds along with 4 blocks dominating her matchup with Mackenize Holmes. Brink the 6-4 Senior from Beaverton, Oregon went 6-11 from the field, 2-3 from three-point range and 6-6 from the free throw line. Nunu Agara added 13 points off the bench. Hannah Jump added 12 points and Elena Bosgana scored 10 points. The Cardinal went 36-72 from the field for 50%, 11-29 from three-point range for 38% and 13-15 from the free throw line for 86%. Stanford had 50 rebounds, 14 assists, 6 blocks, 5 steals and 13 turnovers.
Syndey Parrish and Sara Scalia had 15 points each to lead the Hoosiers. Chloe Moore-McNeil added 11 points. Lenee Beaumont scored 9 points off the bench and was the only bench points for IU as 10 of 12 Hoosiers played. Mackenize Holmes scored 8 points and had 2 rebounds. Holmes went 3-12 from the field 0-3 from three-point range and 2-2 from the Free Throw Line. Holmes became the second all-time leading scorer in IU Women’s Basketball History passing Denise Jackson who had 1,917 points. Holmes was 1 point behind her coming into the game and now sits at 1,924 points. Yarden Garzon scored 6 points with 3 rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. Indiana struggled going 22-63 from the field for 35%, 5-32 from three-point range for 15% and 15-16 from the free throw line for 98%. The Hoosiers pulled down 27 rebounds, dished out 10 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks. Indiana committed 15 turnovers in the game.
Illinois ends Indiana University Football’s Bowl Hopes in Overtime
The Indiana Hoosiers lost 48-45 in Overtime to the Illinois Fighting Illini Saturday Afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Champaign Illinois. The loss to sends the Hoosiers to 3-7 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten and officially eliminates them from a bowl game for third straight season. Indiana will host Michigan State Saturday at noon for Senior Day and to keep the Old Brass Spittoon for the second year in a row after beating the Spartans in East Lansing last year.
Illinois is 5-5 and 3-4 in the Big 10 and a win at Iowa or home against Northwestern in the next two weeks will put them in a bowl game. John Paddock who transferred from Ball State and replaced the injured Luke Altmyer and in his first start as the Ilini Quarterback was 24-36 for 507 yards and 4 touchdown passes. Reggie Williams who is the Big Ten’s leading receiver had 9 catches for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns. Pat Bryant had 5 catches for 131 and a touchdown but was injured in the third quarter. Casey Washington had five catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. Reggie Love had 24 carries for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns and the Illini snap a four-game losing to streak to the Hoosiers that dated back 2012.
Brendan Sorsby was 22-39 passing for 289 yards and three touchdowns along with two rushing touchdowns for 53 yards on 17 carries. Donaven McCulley caught 11 passes for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns. DeQuece Carter caught 3 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown. Trent Howland rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown. The Hoosiers led 27-12 with 5:44 left before halftime. The Illini scored touchdowns to trail 27-26 going into the locker room after Illinois missed an extra point after a score with 3:19 left in the first quarter.
Illinois scored two more touchdowns but missed a two-point conversion to lead 39-27 seven seconds into the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers scored with 12:25 left when Brendan Sorsby scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to trail by five. Caleb Griffin hit a 21-yard field goal with 5:04 left to make it 42-34. Indiana got the stop it needed and marched down the field and got a 26-yard touchdown pass from Sorsby to DeQuece Carter with 28 seconds to put the Hoosiers within 2 points. Sorsby found EJ Williams for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 42-42 and send the game to overtime.
Indiana got the ball first and Chris Freeman hit a 21-yard field goal to go up 45-42. Illinois needed one play as Paddock found Isaiah Williams on a 21-yard score to win the game. Illinois had 662 yards of total offense and 369 in the first half. The Hoosiers had 451 yards of total offense. Illinois had 14 penalties for 139 yards and the Hoosiers had seven penalties for 80 yards. The game was chippy as late in the fourth quarter Illinois Tahveon Nicholson was ejected for the game for spitting on Indiana’s EJ Williams.
The Hoosiers allowed over 500 yards passing for the first time since November 20, 2004, when the Purdue Boilermakers threw 590 yards on the Hoosiers. Jacob Magnum-Farrar said after the game “It was a lot of Indiana beating Indiana, I feel like we gave them a lot of stuff “. Magnum-Farrar added that the breakdowns come from miscommunication. “It’s unfortunate that we are still having issues like that, comes down to discipline” Magnum-Farrar said. The Hoosiers still have two trophy games to play for with the Old Oaken Bucket game at Purdue in two weeks and while the Hoosiers will not go to bowl game, they will treat the Purdue game like their bowl game and hopes to bring the Old Oaken Bucket back to Bloomington.
Indiana University Women’s Soccer falls to #21 Saint Louis in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament
Indiana women’s soccer season came to an end after falling 2-0 against No. 21 Saint Louis in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at Hermann Stadium on Friday evening. Saint Louis (18-2-2) took a 2-0 early lead in the first half. They scored on a penalty kick in the 11th minute lead after a foul was called on the Hoosiers in the box. Their second goal was added in the 30th minute after SLU was awarded a corner. After facing a lot of pressure in the opening minutes, freshmen Elle Britt saw the Hoosiers’ first chance in the 44th minute, but her shot attempt to the top center of the net was denied by the Billikens keeper.
IU (12-4-4) faced a couple of shots on goal in the opening minutes of the second half, but junior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg made the two clutch saves to keep the Billikens at bay. The Hoosiers started to gain momentum beginning with a shot from senior Anna Bennett in the 54th minute. She dribbled into the box lining up a shot, but it the keeper was able to step in for the save. IU continued to put on the pressure as they fired the next six shots. Britt saw the best opportunity in the 70th minute as she sent one into the bottom right of the net before it was scooped up by the keeper. In the 80th minute, Senior Sofia Black took a free kick just outside the 18-yard box sending the ball to the top center of the net, making the keeper jump for the save. The Billikens would get the last attempt in the 84th minute as Gerstenberg tallied her sixth save as they continued to control the match in the remaining minutes. Indiana led the shot attempts 17-12. Nine Hoosiers recorded a shot in the match. Britt led with seven total shots and two on goal. Gerstenberg made six saves against the Billikens for a season total of 52. She has 140 on her career that landed her eighth on the all-time career saves list. Indiana made their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2013.
For more local news . . . Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson