BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA(M) – Bobby Clark has lamented his team’s inability to translate their quality into wins on a number of occasions this season, so the 10th-year Notre Dame head coach was understandably pleased after his team’s 2-1 victory over Indiana on the road Wednesday.

Adam Mena scored an 80th minute winner for the Fighting Irish (5-2-3) that appeared to be a bit of a softie, but Clark won’t be making any apologies for that one.

“We got off to a good start and got the goal, but then we went into a shell and let them dictate. You can’t let Indiana do that,” Clark said. “We talked at halftime about stepping up and believing and getting after the game more. In the 2nd half we kept the game in their half for long periods, and to do that in Bloomington isn’t easy. I didn’t feel they threatened our goal very much, even though Will Bruin is always dangerous whenever he gets the ball.”

“We just tried to hold the belief that our boss talks about,” Aaron Maund (#19 Top 100 Upperclassmen) said. “We’ve been playing well. We just want to keep the team in the game and we know the goals will come and we can churn out wins.”

Jeb Brovsky (#46 Top 100 Upperclassmen), a bright spot in attack all night, credited the defense as well.

“Our back four has been solid all year. We haven’t given up more than two goals in a game all year, but it’s time for our front 6 to get the job done and we had some guys step up today,” Brovsky said. “We’re getting the mentality to play in the box with some self-belief.”

Indiana coach Todd Yeagley, whose team falls to 5-4-1, said the dual mission of teaching and earning results must continue.

“I was pleased with what we did in the 1st half. In the 2nd we kind of lost it,” Yeagley said. “Jacob (Bushue) played well in the 1st half and he’s been sick this week, so he started to feel it in the 2nd half. Credit Notre Dame for making the plays to win the game. We’re still trying to find some solutions and answers but I thought we did plenty in the 1st half to get a couple more goals.

“We keep teaching and coaching. We have to be the ones to provide an evaluation without getting caught up in the results, even though we need to get results. This is about trying to do better at things we do well and eliminate the things we don’t do well. That is the area where we need to make strides because some of the mistakes we are making over and over. That’s something that is tough but at the same time we have to fight through the adversity and get positive results. If we can do that it will help us in the final third of the season.”

Notre Dame provided an ominous sign for the Hoosiers in just the 2nd minute of the match. Jeb Brovsky led a breakout and fed Michael Rose on the right, but his whipped cross just missed the run of striker Steven Perry with the goal under threat.

A giveaway in the back led to the opening goal of the match in the 15th minute. Jeb Brovsky came up with the ball behind the IU defefnse as defender Caleb Kostanski slumped to the turf following a challenge. Brovsky fed an open Steven Perry on the left. His shot was saved by Soffner, but the rebound came to Brovsky and he finished well for a 1-0 Notre Dame lead.

IU nearly answered immediately after good work on the left by Nikita Kotlov (#24 Top 100 Freshmen). His cross found Chris Estridge in the 6-yard box but the header went wide of the target.

The equalizer came courtesy of a pure gift in the 24th minute. Nikita Kotlov served a cross from the left and Notre Dame goalkeeper Chris Tuttle spilled the ball in front of goal. IU power forward Will Bruin (#4 Top 100 Upperclassmen) was on hand to clean up the mess from the doorstep to make it 1-1.

The rest of the half was played largely in midfield. Substitute Adam Mena and Dillon Powers (#32 Top 100 Upperclassmen) combined on a nice passing play to set up Brovsky in the area with 6 minutes remaining, but his attempt at a placed shot went over the bar. Bruin had a long-distance effort fly wide of the upright after stealing the ball from the Irish in the forward third.

After the break, Notre Dame seemed to start a bit brighter than the Hoosiers, although their possession in midfield didn’t lead to any clear cut chances in the opening 25 minutes of the 2nd half.

Indiana began to come into the match a bit more as the half progressed, and Alec Purdie set up Harrison Petts for a hard shot that Tuttle did well to hold. A giveaway in the Notre Dame end led to a chance for Andy Adlard, but the shot went just wide with 11 minutes remaining.

The Irish goal came out of nowhere. Greg Klauzura advanced the ball up the left and fed Perry. Perry switched the field to Adam Mena and Mena’s shot from distance somehow eluded Luis Soffner and found the net for a 2-1 Notre Dame lead.

A shot from Adlard brought claims for handball in the closing minutes, but no penalty was forthcoming and the Irish hung on for the win.

Notre Dame Lineup
GK: Philip Tuttle
D: Bilal Duckett, Grant Van De Casteele, Aaron Maund, Greg Klauzura
M: Michael Rose, Chris Sutton, Jeb Brovsky, Dillon Powers, Brendan King
F: Steven Perry
Subs: Kyle Richard, Adam Mena, Danny O’Leary, Harry Shipp

Indiana Lineup
GK: Luis Soffner
D: Daniel Kelly, Tommy Meyer, Caleb Kostanski, Rich Balchan
M: Chris Estridge, Harrison Petts, Jacob Bushue, Nikita Kotlov
F: Will Bruin, Andy Adlard
Subs: Tim Wylie, Matt McKain, Alec Purdie