Indiana, St. Louis clash in battle of decorated programs

In 1973, Indiana University’s men’s soccer team played its first NCAA season. The next year, the Hoosiers made their first NCAA Tournament appearance. And now in its 50th year, IU is still going strong getting ready to make their 47th NCAA Tournament appearance when they host St. Louis on Sunday at noon ET.

No. 13 seed Indiana (10-4-6) received a bye for the first round. The Hoosiers most recently took down Penn State (1-0) and Maryland (2-1) en route to the Big Ten championship match. But in the championship, Rutgers took charge from the first whistle, allowing the Hoosiers just one goal and earning a 3-1 result. It marked the first Big Ten championship for the Scarlet Knights since joining the conference in 2014.

Ryan Wittenbrink leads the attack for the Hoosiers with eight goals and eight assists on the season. Tommy Mihalec is next in line with six goals and two assists. Fifteen different players have found the net this season, including nine who have found the net multiple times. So, expect the Hoosiers to be sneaky on the attack. And watch out for Wittenbrink, who is dangerous on set pieces and in the box.

St. Louis (12-4-3) won the Atlantic 10 championship 3-2 on penalty kicks, after posting a 0-0 draw with Loyola Chicago, earning an automatic bid in its 50th Tournament appearance. The Billikens lead the NCAA with 10 national championships. St. Louis has not lost a match since a 3-2 loss at Rhode Island on Oct. 5. The Billikens ended the season on a 6-0-2 run, outscoring opponents 18-4 during that span.

Thursday night, St. Louis and Memphis battled to a 2-2 draw. But in 20 minutes of overtime, the Billikens found the net two more times for a 4-2 win, advancing to the second round of the tournament. Memphis struck first with a 23rd-minute goal. Just before the half, Seth Anderson evened the score. In the 76th minute, Saint Louis took a 2-1 lead when Alberto Suarez netted a penalty kick. But the lead lasted just over three minutes. Memphis sent the game into OT. But goals in the 95th and 108th minutes, respectively, sealed the win for Saint Louis.

John Klein leads the offense with seven goals and five assists, followed closely by CJ Coppola (six goals, one assist) and Alberto Suarez (six goals). Thirteen Billikens have combined for 40 goals this season. Expect plenty of players to step up on offense. Teams that score three goals against St. Louis seem to seal the deal. At least teams that scored three goals resulted in three of the four losses.

The history between these two clubs is storied, to say the least. To reiterate, SLU is making its 50th tournament appearance and has 10 championships. IU is making its 47th and has eight. But St. Louis was well established when IU became an NCAA team. The Billikens won their 10th championship in 1973. They haven’t won one since. IU won its first championship in 1982 and its eighth in 2012. The Hoosiers lead the series with the Billikens 23-9-4, with six-straight wins dating back to 2008.

With the postseason, all records get thrown out the window. The players are told to wipe the slate clean and take it one game at a time. After all, one loss and the season is over.

Rules changes

NCAA postseason matches will not feature golden-goal overtime. If games are tied at the end of 90 minutes, they will play two full overtime periods. If the game is still tied after 20 minutes, they will go to a penalty kick shootout. The NCAA eliminated overtime and PKs for regular-season matches, which is why there are so many ties with the bracket teams.

Teams to keep an eye out for

Ohio State (11-3-5). The Buckeyes surprised Wake Forest (24-6-0) with a 3-0 win Thursday night. Wake Forest was one of only two teams with zero ties in the tournament bracket.

The other team to look out for is High Point University (11-4-5). The Panthers topped UNC 2-0 in round one, winning their first-ever NCAA Tournament game. They’ll play at No. 5 Stanford next.

Follow Kathryn on Twitter: @Katknapp99.

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