Men’s soccer sustains injuries
The University of Indianapolis men’s soccer team is off to a 6-4 start in the Great Lakes Valley Conference as they enter the second half of the season and prepare for the conference tournament at the end of October.
UIndy netted two goals in the first half to edge University of Illinois-Springfield 2-1 on Oct. 10. Sophomore midfielder Max Marsh found the goal in the 10th minute and sophomore forward Roger Lee tallied the second goal in the 26th minute. The Greyhounds held the Prairie Stars to only one second half goal. Junior goalkeeper Justin Roberts had two saves in the Greyhound victory.
UIndy’s record now stands at 6-5-0 overall and 6-4-0 in GLVC play.
UIndy defeated Quincy University 1-0 with a last-minute goal in double overtime on Oct. 8. Junior midfielder Ryan Schmidt scored the lone goal with 21 seconds left on the clock.
The Greyhounds lost 1-2 to GLVC foe University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Oct. 3. Three Greyhound players went down with serious injuries. One player sprained his ankle and will miss two weeks of the season while another player broke his tibia and will sit the rest of the season.
With over six minutes left in the game, a third player was tackled by Parkside’s goalie and taken away in an ambulance due to a broken tibia and fibula. He was rushed to ankle surgery and will also sit the rest of the season. Senior Will Tanoury scored the UIndy goal off a penalty kick. The men suffered a 0-2 loss to Lewis University on Oct. 1, currently ranked first in the GLVC, made it to the NCAA final four last season. The Oct. 1 game was the first in-conference loss at Key Stadium for UIndy.
After starting off 3-0 in the beginning of the season, the men suffered back-to-back losses to Northern Kentucky and Bellarmine universities. They bounced back with a 2-1 win over Saint Joseph’s University on Sept. 24.
“We stand a good chance of being one of the eight teams to play in the tournament if we continue to use our technical abilities to our advantage,” Franco said.
The majority of UIndy’s goals have come from ball movement out the back. The ball often touches four or five players before it finds the back of the net and only a few have been scored from individuals on set pieces.
“We have a lot of talent on the team this year and we have great depth on our roster,” Franco said. “If we use our ability to move the ball on the ground and all around the field, then we are as good as, or better than, most teams in the GLVC.”
Some challenges include four of their six remaining games on the road and the lack of tournament experience among the younger players. The team currently has only two seniors and six juniors on their 25-man roster.
“We might be a young team, but we aren’t one that is lacking in experience; we returned 10 starters from last year,” Tanoury said.
Tanoury added that the strengths of the team include team chemistry and the belief that they are one of the best teams in the conference.
“Just about anybody on the field is a dangerous player with the ability to score at will,” Tanoury said. “We defend as a team and have been playing great soccer as a unit.”
The team finished conference play at Maryville University and Missouri S&T the following weekend. All remaining games are crucial for tournament rankings and home field advantage.
“We must take the rest of the season one game at a time,” Franco said. “As long as we continue to play well as a team, we should do well in the GLVC.”
The Greyhounds will host two conference rivals, Drury University and Rockhurst University, on Oct. 15 and Oct. 17 respectively.
