The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis men’s soccer team ended their run in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament with a 3-0 loss to the top-seeded at No. 5 nationally-ranked Northern Kentucky University on Sunday, Nov. 7.

The NKU Norse outshot the Greyhounds 17-11 in the loss. It marked the first time in GLVC history that the eighth-seeded team reached the finals and the first time in program history the UIndy men’s team reached the championship game.

At the 13th minute junior midfielder Micah Uemura was the first player on the field to attempt a goal.

The first goal of the game was made shortly after the 15 minutes mark by the three-time GLVC offensive player of the year, Steven Beattie.

Sophomore Norse forward Beattie was also responsible for the second point of the game in the 52nd minute.

The third and final goal of the game was made at the 60th minute by NKU’s junior midfielder Andrew Montgomery.

This GLVC conference championship win was the fifth for NKU. The Greyhounds made it to the finals by upsetting the fourth-seeded Quincy University in the semi-final round on Nov. 5. Sophomore forward Bobby Adkins scored the only goal of the game off of fellow sophomore forward Roger Lee’s pass in overtime play in the 98th minute.

It was the second time the Greyhounds beat Quincy in overtime this season.

“It felt great, to the rest of the conference it was an upset but to us it was nothing out of the ordinary,” said junior goalkeeper Justin Roberts regarding the overtime upset. “We expected to win that game.”

It was Roberts’ seventh shutout of the season, making him the all-time record-holder for shutouts at UIndy.

He was also recently named Athlete of the Month for Greyhound athletics.

The men reached the semi-final game by upsetting the top-seeded Lewis University 3-0 on Oct. 31.

It was the first time in GLVC tournament history that the eighth-seeded team beat the top-seeded team in the first round of the tournament.

“We thought that we were a better soccer team than them when we played them in the regular season. We knew if we got the play-off we could beat anyone,” said men’s soccer head coach John Higgins.

The Greyhounds took the lead in the first half against Lewis with Lee scoring in the 36th minute off a pass from Adkins.
Uemura stretched the lead to two just less than four minutes later for his first goal of the season.

Sophomore Ryan Barnett put the game away with another goal as the Greyhounds went up by three in the 54th minute, also his first goal of the season. Adkins assisted all three goals in the win.

“It honestly didn’t feel like they were the first-seed,” Uemura said. “I went into the game feeling like we were going to win.”
It was the first time in GLVC tournament history the eighth-seed upset the top-seeded team.

“It was actually the best case scenario for us,” Roberts said. “We got to go up to the best team in conference on their home field and make a statement.”

The Greyhounds finished the regular season with an 8-7-2 record, setting the record for most GLVC wins in a season for UIndy.

This also was the first year with soccer alumnus John Higgins as the interim head coach. Despite setting this record, the Greyhounds still received the lowest ranking in the tournament, setting them up for a series of upsets in the GLVC tournament.

“Our only goal at the start of the season was to get into the tournament so we were delighted to be 8th. We have been good on the road this year so it was no problem for us to play away from home,” Higgins said.

In spite of ending the tournament run with a 3-0 loss, the Greyhounds still have a lot to look back on regarding their surprising run.

Not only did they set a series of records, but they proved that they were serious competition for GLVC opponents.
“These past couple weekends showed what we can do as a team,” Roberts said. “I think the rest of the GLVC really sees us as a threat now, and we know we deserve that. It’s definitely something we can take with us from this point on.”

Even though the Greyhounds, now ranked 8th in the conference, lost the conference championship check out reflector.uindy.edu to see what the NCAA Regional Ranking Committee decided about The UIndy men’s soccer teams post season schedule.