October 24, 2012
ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET
Hoosiers blank Evansville 2-0

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Goals from Eriq Zavaleta and Nikita Kotlov in the first half, as well as the ninth shutout of the year for goalkeeper Luis Soffner gave Indiana a 2-0 win over visiting Evansville Wednesday night on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

“Good win tonight,” said Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley. “I thought we could have had a few more in the first half, but it was a good performance on the attacking side and we limited Evansville’s chances. In the second half we had a lot of the ball but weren’t as sharp as we needed to be in critical moments.”

Indiana improves to 11-3-2, while the Purple Aces drop to 9-6-0.

Zavaleta netted his fifth game-winning goal of the year and 14th score overall. In the 25th minute, left back Patrick Doody made a run up the flank and served a ball into the box, where Zavaleta’s diving header shot past UE goalkeeper Eric Teppen for the 1-0 lead.

Indiana did not take its foot off the gas in a half that saw them out-shoot the Purple Aces by a 13-2 margin. That effort was rewarded in the 31st minute when Nikita Kotlov made something out of nothing for his third goal of the season.

Playing a ball down in the left corner on the goal line, Kotlov dribbled the ball down the stripe before slotting a shot home to thelower right at a tough angle around Teppen.

Zavaleta could have easily had his second goal of the half in the 33rd minute when freshman Femi Hollinger-Janzen cut a ball back to him at six yards out, but his uncontested shot went wide left.

The Hoosiers continued to dominate possession in the second half, putting up six shots in the final 45 minutes. Indiana’s best chance to add a third goal in the half came with under 18 to play as Zavaleta had a shot from eight yards out blocked. The ball made its way back out to junior A.J. Corrado, who sent in a perfect pass to Kotlov who was sitting wide open at two yards out. Kotlov skied his shot high to negate the scoring threat.

Evansville had four of its six shots in the second half, but three of the four came in a sequence with under two minutes remaining. A shot from Charlie Macias hit the post, while two more quick rebound attempts from Nate Opperman and Kevin Schafer were saved at close range by IU goalkeeper Luis Soffner.

Soffner tallied four saves for his ninth shutout of the season, matching his season-high shutout total, also tallying nine during his freshman season in 2009.

Indiana has two regular-season games remaining, both Big Ten matches. The Hoosiers will travel to East Lansing, Mich. on Sunday, Oct. 28, to face the Michigan State Spartans at 1 p.m. ET.