INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI men's soccer team played to another draw on Saturday (Oct. 10) as they tied Bowling Green, 2-2. The Jags have now seen seven of their 11 contests go into extra time, including five draws. IUPUI took the field Saturday donning their pink uniforms for breast cancer awareness.
"I think we are a good team," Head Coach
Isang Jacob said. "I know we are a good team. Once we have everybody back, it makes a huge difference. But I want to give credit to the players, to the freshmen. We have seven freshman stepping up and playing well right now and it just shows their strength and it shows what they're capable of doing."
It was the Falcons (6-5-1) who jumped ahead early on a corner kick opportunity in the 6th minute. BGSU's Jacob Roth placed a header upper left off of the corner assist from Joe Sullivan for the 1-0 BGSU lead.
IUPUI found multiple opportunities in the half before finally netting the equalizer in the 39th minute. A great midfield build up went from freshman
Nick Anderson to sophomore
Jacob Singer before Singer laid a ball to senior
Clint Hoffar. Hoffar casually made a turn, took an uncontested touch and blasted a 25-yard rifle to the top left corner that curled past the BGSU keeper.
"I kind of just saw that I had some space, turned and hit the ball," Hoffar said. "Coach Garrett (Bireline) and I were working on them yesterday. We just knew there was going to be some space because they only play three in the back."
The Hoffar goal made it 1-1 going into half as the Jags seemed to have momentum. The goal was Hoffar's fourth of the year on just 13 shots.
"Clint scored a very beautiful goal to get us going," Coach Jacob added. "We took advantage of our set pieces which we're very strong at and it was helpful today."
The Jags' second strike came early in the second half. The ball went out of play in the BGSU defensive third, setting up a Hoffar throw in. The Kendallville, Ind. native sent in a big toss that drew out the BGSU keeper who punched the ball away. The clearance went right to the feet of junior
Cristian Soto who one-timed it into the net from 15 yards in the 50th minute. The strike was Soto's second of the year.
The 2-1 lead gave the Jags life as they stayed aggressive throughout the second half.
Emmanuel Usen attempted a pair of great shots in the second period. The sophomore returned from injury after missing significant time the last few weeks.
It looked like the Jags were going to pull it out in regulation before an unfortunate event in the 83rd minute. IUPUI keeper
Eduardo Cortes came to the top of the box to play a wild ball that took a surprising bounce. Cortes slipped, letting the ball get behind and BGSU's Joe Sullivan finished on an empty net, knotting it up at 2-2.
No stranger to overtime, the Jags went into OT for the seventh time in their 11 matches this season.
In the 100th minute (first overtime), freshman
Ryan Machonga had a pair of opportunities on runs up the right side. Machonga nearly chipped the keeper on the latter attempt as the ball hit the crossbar and ricocheted back into play where a Usen header went just wide. No serious threats were made by either side in the second overtime period.
In the absence of junior
Harold Agyeman-Prempeh (injury), sophomore
Joshua Ayala played significant minutes at the center defensive mid spot. A few of the Jags' missing pieces were in action on Saturday for the first time in awhile.
"It's good to be able to have guys back," Coach Jacob said. "It makes a difference in the goals that we scored."
An offensive battle is something the Jags haven't been used to this season, but Saturday's match saw a shot count of 27-22 in favor of BGSU, 10-6 on goal. Despite the Cortes slip, the Dallas, Texas native played well, recording eight saves and boosting his season total to 75 and an average of 6.82 saves per game.
The Jags will face off with conference rival IPFW next Sunday (Oct. 18) at 3 p.m. at Michael A. Carroll Stadium.
