INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's soccer team played Milwaukee to a scoreless draw on Senior Day at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 17) with two blood thirsty sides having to settle for one point apiece in the standings after 90 minutes of gnashing and clawing one another. Physicality superceded finesse for the bulk of the match, but neither side could find the finishing touch.
"I think the boys responded really well in the second half. We came off of the first half where we tried to walk the ball in the back of the net, it's never gonna happen that way," head coach
Keegan Boom said. "We took a few more risks in the attacking third. We put the ball in the box, ended up with significantly more shots in the second half. Had a chance to win it at the end and we're narrowly wide."
IU Indy freshman goalkeeper
Peter Field made four saves and saw
Jago Thompson-Roberts keep the clean sheet intact with a goal line clearance for a fourth shutout of the season. Milwaukee's Carson Pridie needed just three stops at the other end for his shutout. The Jaguars (3-7-3, 0-5-2 HL) were on the back foot from the start as Milwaukee (5-4-5, 3-1-3 HL) continually created traffic deep in Jaguar territory. The physicality ramped up in the 38th minute when initially, IU Indy freshman
Micah Eldridge was issued a red card as he collided with a Milwaukee midfielder. After the official consulted with his linesman, the red card was downgraded to a yellow card, leaving the Jaguars at even strength.
The play seemingly awakened the IU Indy attack as
Jose Antonio Herrera and
Cobe Hamler had late shot attempts after being held without a shot for the game's first 31 minutes.
In the 50th minute, Milwaukee attacker Praise Ogwu had a shot from the left side hit the outside of the post and his rebound attempt went side net. It was Ogwu's rolling attempt in the 62nd minute that was easily cleared off the line by Thompson-Roberts for a corner kick.
The Jaguars' attack was largely keyed by Herrera in the second half as he had attempts in the 70th and 71st minutes saved by Pridie. The game opened up as time moved forward as fatigue took its toll on both sides. IU Indy had the better run over the final 15 minutes, including a
Christian Nielsen header in the final minute that went just right of the post with just more than 20 seconds remaining.
Milwaukee finished with an 18-12 shot advantage and 11 corner kicks while the Jags earned six corners. Herrera had a team-high three shots and
Santiago Sanchez and
Thomas Weinrich had two each.
The Jaguars will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 24 when they travel north to face Green Bay.
