Friday night's top-five battle was a rematch of last year's Big Ten tournament semifinal.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The No. 4-ranked Indiana men's soccer team scored first against No. 5 Maryland, but the Terps found the equalizer in the 87th minute and the game would finish in a 1-1 draw in the Big Ten opener for both teams at Armstrong Stadium on Friday night.
Indiana remains undefeated on the year (3-0-2) and is undefeated through the first five games of the season for the first time since the start of 2011, when the Hoosiers started 6-0-2.
"It was another classic Indiana-Maryland game tonight," Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said. "It was back and forth. I thought tonight we had the better quality chances. I thought Andrew (Gutman) was unfortunate to not have three goals on the night, as many times as he had a good look on goal. We weren't able to get as much rhythm as we would have liked. We have a lot of respect for Maryland and hopefully we get a chance to play them again, if not in the Big Ten, then in the postseason."
Andrew Gutman paced the IU attack with five shots and also found himself in the middle of at least three great scoring opportunities. As a team, Indiana registered 16 shots in the game while Maryland had 14 and the Hoosiers had a 9-5 edge in corner kicks.
IU goalkeeper Colin Webb made three saves, highlighted by a diving save on a blast from distance in the second half to preserve the Indiana lead at the time.
The first scoring chance of the game belonged to the Hoosiers late in the sixth minute, a nice combination play led to a strong shot by Gutman that was saved away by the Maryland goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier.
Head Coach Todd Yeagley speaks with the media after a 1-1 draw with #2 Maryland. https://t.co/4FxYd4CTXp
— Indiana Men's Soccer (@IUMensSoccer) September 10, 2016
The Hoosiers got on the board first in the seventh minute on a goal by Richard Ballard, his second of the season, and the assist going to Gutman. The scoring chance came about following an IU corner kick where Tanner Thompson launched a shot from 16 yards out on the left side that was blocked and deflected across the box. After the two teams briefly battled for possession, Gutman came out with the ball and his shot from 10 yards was also blocked. But the ball fell to the foot of Ballard and drilled the shot from 8 yards out into the upper third.
Gutman was able to work free from the Maryland defenders inside the left side of the 18, and found himself with a clean look on goal, but his shot sailed high and right, narrowly missing the upper corner of the goal and the Hoosiers would take a 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Then in the 52nd minute, the Terrapins launched a shot from long range that was curling towards the upper corner on the left side, but Webb was able to dive and deflect the shot wide and preserve the Indiana lead once again.
Maryland was able to put home the equalizer in the 87th minute when a long ball into the box from the back was headed across the box to Alex Crognale, who spun and got enough on it to beat Webb on the near side.
In the overtime sessions both teams had opportunities in the final third, but were unable to capitalize and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
