:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61092995/DSC_0849.0.jpeg)
A week after opening the season on the road the IU men’s soccer team will host the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Bill Armstrong Stadium this weekend. HIT THE MUSIC!
WE STARTED A CREDIT UNIOOOOOON, AND CREATED A COMMUNITYYYYYYYYYYY!
Now that we got that out of the way let’s talk footy. The Hoosiers (1-1) are coming off possibly their hardest weekend of the season as they lost a heartbreaker to now-No. 1 Wake Forest and then rode a late goal by sophomore defender A.J. Palazzolo to a win over another elite opponent in the North Carolina Tar Heels. If the competition gets any easier this weekend it’ll only be by a small margin. On Friday the Hoosiers will take on No. 22 Dartmouth and on Sunday they’ll face No. 18 UConn.
Dartmouth is coming off a 12-3-2 season that saw them win their fourth consecutive Ivy League championship before falling to a ranked New Hampshire team in a penalty shootout in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Big Green is favored to win their fifth straight title despite going through a coaching change over the off-season and having two players selected in the MLS SuperDraft. Despite those losses, they still return five All-Ivy League selections from a year ago and have an experienced squad. One Dartmouth player to watch in Friday night’s contest will be senior forward Eduvie Ikoba, who was First Team All-Ivy League and Second Team NSCAA All-Region last season after scoring eight goals and assisting in three others.
UConn will be another test for the Hoosiers when they kick off on Sunday. The Huskies currently sit at 2-0 on the season with wins over Lehigh and Niagara last weekend, but their Friday night matchup with No. 24 Notre Dame should be their first true test of the season. UConn missed out on the tournament last season after an 8-8-2 campaign in which they finished third in the American Athletic Conference. One Husky to watch on Sunday will be senior defender Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, who was named AAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year a couple of weeks ago following a season in which he earned First Team All-AAC honors.
Overall, this weekend will be another test of this IU squad. If they plan to get results against two NCAA tournament-level teams they’re going to have to prove their talent and depth once again. Hoosier fans should look for impact players like Andrew Gutman and Justin Rennicks to bag their first goals of the season, and a couple of IU wins this weekend.