BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA -  #11 ranked Indiana continued a run of good form with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Kentucky here Tuesday night. Andy Adlard scored a pair of goals to lead the Hoosier offensive effort, and Nick Blevins added the third IU tally, but the Hoosiers’ improved central midfield performance was clearly a key factor in the win.

IU coach Mike Freitag and midfielder Rich Balchan both credited a change of tactics with helping key the strong midfield play, which resulted in the Hoosiers having much of the ball and creating more scoring chances on the evening while employing a 4-4-2 formation rather than the traditional 3-5-2 long favored by IU teams.

Freitag said the idea actually came from his playing roster.

“Sometimes you have to listen to your team. Coaches sometimes think we have the master plan in our head,” he said. “The last several weeks or so we haven’t been clicking and I started hearing some guys and the ideas they had, so we changed things up a little bit and went with a 4-4-2, and I felt the guys felt comfortable with it. Maybe this simplified things a little bit.”

“When we had two defensive mids we weren’t connecting really well,” Balchan said. “But now we have just one and he’s working that whole area.”
That player in the 2nd half was Nick Blevins, playing in just his 2nd game of the year. Blevins was instrumental in helping the Hoosiers retain more possession for a largely dominating 2nd half.

“We have spent some time on midfield. We’ve been spoiled here with players who make good decisions and we’ve been doing a little work on pattern of play offensively and I think that’s helped some guys make better decisions on the field,” Freitag said. “Nick is a young man who is good on the ball. He’s got some other deficiencies we need to work on, but we felt we needed him to take care of the ball in the back of midfield a little bit. So we gave him some time and I thought he did well with his time.”

Balchan added that the simple formula of more match experience is helping the Hoosiers improve in the middle of the park as well.

“We’re starting to get it together and be a more cohesive unit,” he said. “Everyone is more confident on the ball. We’re a tight-knit group and as we progress through the season we’re going to get better at keeping the ball.”

Goal-scoring hero Adlard was another valuable sub on the night, coming on when starting winger Dan Kelly had to leave the game with an injury. Freitag credited Adlard with making the most of his opportunity.

“Andy has not been playing well. He’d be the first to admit it,” Freitag said. “Sometimes splinters are a good motivator, but Andy knew what he needed to do to get on the field and I think he had a great game tonight.”

With the win IU stands at 5-2-1 while #27 Kentucky falls to 7-2-0. The Hoosiers now travel out west to play old rival #9 UC Santa Barbara. Kentucky hosts UAB in an important Conference USA matchup.

Adlard put the Hoosiers on top in the 29th minute with a precise header off a cross from Eric Alexander. After the goal, the Hoosiers Will Bruin forged additional chances, but Kentucky goalkeeper Dan Williams was alert to snuff out the threats and the teams went into the break at 1-0.

UK looked more lively to start the 2nd half, with CJ Tappel coming close with a drive that IU goalkeeper Luis Soffner did well to save in the 50th minute. With Blevins beginning to have a good effect on the Hoosiers’ possession, an extended stretch of ball control led to a good chance when Darren Yeagle played a lovely pass to Will Bruin, who blasted just wide of Williams’ far post.

Some good work between Tappel and Byron Vega for Kentucky in the 60th minute led to a curling shot from the former that went just wide of the IU goal. The miss would come back to haunt the Wildcats just minutes later when a nice passing play between IUs Matt Wiet, Rich Balchan and Andy Adlard led to the 2nd goal of the night for Adlard and a 2-0 Hoosier lead.

Just a few minutes later it was 3-0 as Bruin put in a nifty piece of footwork to set up Nick Blevins with plenty of time and the sophomore midfielder waited patiently before striking the ball past Williams for a 3-0 lead, which ended up being the final score.

Lineups

Kentucky
GK Dan Williams
D Chris Jumalon, Tim Muessig, Barry Rice
M Brad Walker, Jason Griffiths, Tyler Burns, Josh McCrary
F CJ Tappel, Marco Dos Santos , Tim Crone
Subs David Harrison, Chad Hagerty, Taylor White, Jacob Kemer, Drew Midkiff, Byron Vega, Cameron Wilder, George Davis IV,
 
Indiana
GK Luis Soffner
D Ofori Sarkodie, Tommy Meyer, Daniel Kelly
M Cameron Jordan, Lee Hagedorn, Eric Alexander, Matt Wiet, Rich Balchan
F Will Bruin, Darren Yeagle
Subs Alec Purdie, Andy Adlard, Neil Wilmarth, Tyler McCarroll, Nick Blevins, Caleb Konstanski, Kevin Bick, Chris Haffner, Tim Wylie, Joe Tolen