INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI men's soccer team extended its season on Sunday (Nov. 6) with a thrilling 1-0 home win over No. 6 seed Detroit Mercy in the opening round of the 2022 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championships, held at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. IUPUI used a late Lukas Hackaa penalty kick to outlast the Titans by a 1-0 score. 

Freshman Ethan Vermillion earned the penalty kick opportunity and Hackaa delivered with his seventh score of the year in the game's 72nd minute for the final margin. Junior goalkeeper Lucas Morefield collected four stops in earning his third shutout of the season, setting up a meeting with No. 2 Wright State in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament in Cleveland on Thursday, Nov. 10. 

"I'm ecstatic. I've still got to process it - process the game - it was a mad game, very physical, not very pretty at all, but I'm really really glad we got that win and at the end of the day, that's all that matters," head coach Sid van Druenen said. "Credit to Detroit, you can't ever really plan for them. They played two or three different systems today - they change on the fly. They created some good chances and Morefield made some good saves. We need Morefield to make those saves in order for us to get wins and clean sheets.

"Playoff ball is win and move on or lose and go home, so it's always going to have a little bit of an edge to it."

The margins were razor thin on Sunday as each team cracked 15 shots and each side made five saves. However, it came down to the penalty kick opportunity that decided the game. 

UDM's Samory Powder was a constant thorn in the side of the Jaguars' defense as he had a shot redirect off an IUPUI defender and have to be cleared off the back line by Dominic Breidenbach in the 32nd minute to keep the shutout intact. In the 48th minute, Morefield made a superb diving stop to push a Powder shot wide of the post and in the 65th minute, Morefield plucked a Luke Winters header out of the air for one of his four stops. 

The winning moment came in the 72nd minute when Vermillion turned the corner against his defender and was shoved to the turf by UDM's Mateo Phillips for the PK opportunity. Hackaa capitalized for his team-high third game-winner of the season. Vermillion nearly sealed the deal in the 81st minute, going 1-v-4 through a bevy of Titan defenders before having his shot cleared away by netminder Jonathan Kliewer. 

Playing with the lead, the Jags showed some moxie in killing the clock and securing the win. The back line repeatedly fended off the Titans direct attacks, forcing the guests to reset against a rapidly improving defensive unit. 

Detroit Mercy earned a 10-3 advantage on corner kicks, including 8-3 margin after halftime, but IUPUI continued to deny the restarts. 

Powder had a team-high five shots, putting three on frame, and Guershom Sylvain attempted four off the Titans' bench. Horizon League Freshman of the Year Josemir Gomez paced the Jaguars with four attempts and both Hackaa and Kade Tepe had three apiece. 

IUPUI advances to the semifinals round of the Horizon League Tournament for the first time since 2018 and will face Wright State at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10. That contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with the winner playing in the Horizon League Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1:00 p.m.