Indiana Falls to Creighton 1-0

October 9, 2011

Bloomington, IN - The Indiana Hoosiers (6-3-2) lost to Creighton (10-1-0) on Sunday afternoon 1-0 thanks to a goal from Dion Acoff.

“Tough results today for the team,” said head coach Todd Yeagley. “This week has been a challenge. These (Louisville and Creighton) are two College Cup-level teams in talent and maturity.

“We walk away with two losses, but I am very confident of this group based on performance in large portions of those two matches. We are right where we need to be. It is hard to get the losses in a short period of time, but we still control our own destiny. We need to get back at it tomorrow and find a way to get a good result Wednesday.”

Both teams came out firing early as Indiana’s Tommy Meyer was forced to clear off the line in the 4^th minute. Hoosiers goalkeeper Luis Soffner made his first save only 60 seconds later, collecting a long-range strike.

Indiana nearly got on the board a few minutes later after impressive interplay from Alec Purdie and Chris Estridge, as the left back chested down the pass inside the area only to see his shot saved by Creighton’s Brian Holt.

Eriq Zavaleta found Harrison Petts with a through ball in the 13^th minute, but a Creighton defender made a last-ditch tackle just inside the area to thwart the opportunity.

Dion was dangerous throughout the game for the visitors, nearly scoring a wonderful solo effort after a 60 yard burst on the counterattack, as Soffner came up with a big save to preserve the deadlock.

The Hoosiers’ best chance of the game came soon after. Petts played Zavaleta into the area, the forward taking a deft touch around Holt and putting a low shot on target that was cleared off the line at the last second by the Creighton defense.

Creighton would make the breakthrough in the 41^st minute. Dion took Tyler Polak’s pass and cut inside the box, hitting a shot from 16 yards off of Meyer’s outstretched foot that looped over a diving Soffner into the top right corner.

Meyer nearly provided the opening for Indiana early in the second half as he floated a header into a dangerous area, but Creighton cleared for a corner.

Jamie Vollmer blasted a shot just wide a few minutes later as Indiana’s Caleb Konstanski and Matt McKain each made important tackles to prevent any further damage.

Ethan Finlay almost doubled the lead in the 78^th minute, ripping a shot destined for the top right corner as Soffner flew across the goal to palm it over.

Indiana searched for one final push and nearly found an equalizer from Purdie, whose volley from four yards was caught by Holt.

The Hoosiers travel to Indianapolis to face in-state rival Butler on Wednesday, October 12 at 7 p.m.