Hoosiers, Irish advance to Round of 16
Photo credit: William Murphy
Two Indiana schools took the pitch Sunday in the men’s NCAA tournament in their quests to reach the College Cup, and both ultimately advanced to the Round of 16. One skated by with ease; the other had to go to a dramatic 12th round of penalties to move on.
The second-seeded Hoosiers put on a complete display at Bill Armstrong Stadium in a 4-0 drubbing of UConn. The Huskies were thoroughly outclassed from the opening whistle, as the hosts hardly let off the gas at any point in the 90.
Andrew Gutman, Griffin Dorsey, Timmy Mehl and Spencer Glass tallied for Indiana, with two coming on each side of the interval. Trevor Swartz assisted on three of the four strikes and now leads the nation in the category.
Hey @trevor_swartz, I worked very hard on this photoshop for you pic.twitter.com/lgQSxYgOKr
— Eddie Cotton 🇵🇪 (@EdwardKoton15) September 17, 2018
Playing as a withdrawn center forward — a classic false nine, essentially — in Todd Yeagley’s 4-3-3 setup, Swartz opted to seek out pockets of space underneath the Uconn back line and his fellow attackers. It worked to perfection, as the Hoosiers wholly dictated the run of play and superbly picked and chose their spots.
Indiana will host Air Force next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
No. 7 seed Notre Dame narrowly escaped visiting Michigan, the team Indiana beat last weekend to capture the Big Ten tournament title, squeaking by 10-9 in a shootout. It took 12 rounds to settle matters after each teams’ first five shooters converted.
Both takers missed in the sixth round, as Michigan’s Umar Farouk Osman and Notre Dame’s Ian Aschieris came up empty from the spot. The teams then traded makes all the way through the 11th round.
Finally, in the 12th, Marc Ybarra missed and Felicien Dumas buried his attempt to put the Fighting Irish through. The 10th-seeded Virginia Cavaliers await the Irish next Sunday with kickoff set for 5 p.m. ET in South Bend.
Both Indiana and Notre Dame are now just two wins away from a trip to the College Cup in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.
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