Loading ...IU soccer wins 8th national title
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by Jeremy Price | Sunday, December 9, 2012 - 6:51 pm UTC
HOOVER, Ala. — Nikita Kotlov scored the only goal of the match in the 64th minute, and the Indiana men’s soccer team held on to claim its eighth national championship with a 1-0 victory over Georgetown in the College Cup finals Sunday at Regions Park before an announced crowd of 9.242.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these players, in particular the seniors for what they’ve done for this program,” IU coach Todd Yeagley said, “and the players underneath them that have helped us get back to this moment.”
The Hoosiers (16-5-3) missed out on several scoring opportunities despite having the better of play in the first half, while goalkeeper Luis Soffner made a pair of saves to keep the game scoreless.
Georgetown (19-4-3) seemed to finally find its footing 10 minutes in to the second stanza, controlling the ball and putting IU on its heels.
That all changed in a flash. Hoosier left back Patrick Doody surged forward on the flank and hit a high, looping ball to the back post. Hoyas goalkeeper Tomas Gomez drifted back toward the ball, but Eriq Zavaleta beat him to it, heading the ball down for Kotlov, who didn’t miss the open net.
Kotlov nearly added another goal with six minutes left to play, dribbling around Gomez only to have a defender block away his shot.
From there, the Indiana defense finished a perfect weekend, surviving a Georgetown header off the top right corner of the post with a minute remaining.
Soffner was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in helping the Hoosiers win their first NCAA title since 2004. Also named to the all-tournament team were Kotlov, Zavaleta, Caleb Konstanski and Femi Hollinger-Janzen.
Winning the College Cup from the #16 seed is sweet indeed! Congrats on #8!!
Well done Hoosiers!
Congrats to Fans(loud and proud on the broadcast), Coaches and Players alike!
Awesome. And to think before the tourney started I was wondering if we would even make the tourney with how we were playing at the time. Peaked at the right time! 8th star!! Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoosiers!
That SO rocks. IU again is king of the soccer world.
Woo-hoo!!
Congrats Hoosiers! Watched the entire game with my wife and we were going nuts. So proud of you guys.
Made the trip over to Birmingham from Atlanta yesterday for the match and it was awesome. Great atmosphere with a TON of Hoosier fans. We outnumbered GTown fans at least 3 to 1 by my observation. Outstanding run by the guys and coaching staff. To win it as a 16th seed while taking out multiple high seeds, including the #1 is amazing. Proud to be a Hoosier!!!