Indiana University Athletics
11/5/2026 12:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Todd Yeagley coaches on the move, a sideline conductor directing Indiana players, pacing, shouting, gesturing with the ferocity of a fencer as drama builds, intensity soars, and Big Ten soccer regular season title opportunity nears at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
A brisk wind swirls as passion rises between No. 4 IU and No. 9 Michigan State on Wednesday night. The clock ticks under three minutes, under two, under one. Hoosiers and Spartans push and push, IU (14-1-3) to sustain its 3-2 lead, Michigan State (10-4-3) to overcome it.
The click hits zero, and Cream and Crimson victory celebration erupts, made sweeter with UCLA's 1-0 win over Washington that clinches the outright Big Ten title. It's the Hoosiers' 20th regular season conference title, 14 more than any other program, and gives them the No. 1 seed in next week's upcoming Big Ten tourney. IU will host the winner between Michigan State and Maryland next Wednesday in the semifinals.
"When I knew I wanted to play college soccer," third-year forward Easton Bogard says, "Indiana was No. 1 on my list for this exact reason. This program is known for chasing titles and making history. I'm glad to have a small chapter in it."
Bogard does his part with a pair of goals. Third-year midfielder Charlie Heuer adds one goal and two assists.
The championship comes a year after IU didn't make the Big Ten tourney, a rarity for a program that has won 36 total conference championships.
"Coach Yeagley sets the expectations," Bogard says. "We know coming in that's what we're chasing every year, that it would be doing the program a disservice not to challenge for it every year."
Adds Heuer: "It feels great to right that wrong."
The aftermath includes a Gatorade drenching of Yeagley, passing out championship t-shirts and hats, and a few celebration runs around Jerry Yeagley Field with the trophy.
"It's an unbelievable feeling,' Heuer says. "This was just one of our goals we set in July. We knew we had a special team. We had a mentality that we weren't going to be denied.
"It got a little tough in moments, but we stuck together and got the job done."
IU opened the season 11-0-2, not losing until an Oct. 16 match at Rutgers by a 1-0 score. It then won at Ohio State and at UCLA, and tied Northwestern before the showdown with Michigan State.
"I felt even in the preseason we meshed so well," Heuer says. "We knew we had unbelievable talent, but the way we bonded off the field right away was something special.
"After the first couple of games, we just had this rhythm. We felt when we play our game, nobody can beat us."
Adds Yeagley: "We realized the pieces were fitting well. We had a good feeling early they were in place. They just had to perform."
And so, the Hoosiers did. Still, nearly every Big Ten game was a one-goal cliffhanger, the exceptions being 3-1 wins over then No. 4 Maryland and then No. 17 UCLA.
The Hoosiers finished 7-1-2 in conference action.
"Our conference this year is as hard as it's ever been," Yeagley says. "To win this regular season is the toughest task we've had to do since I've been the head coach with the quality of the teams top to bottom."
Bill Armstrong Stadium remains a formidable advantage. Wednesday night's crowd of 3,178 boosted season attendance past the 40,000 mark for the first time in program history. It's a big reason why IU is 11-0-1 at home this season, outscoring opponents 31-7.
Still, Michigan State almost overcame it after trailing 2-0 at halftime.
"We said they were going to come out strong," Yeagley says. "They had a phenomenal goal right out of the gate. The heart rate was up; there was no doubt about that.
"Our leadership came through. There was a time where we could have unraveled, but we didn't."
Through it all, Yeagley coaches with the energy of the All-American player he once was with IU in the early 1990s.
"You think of all the things that have to go right, all the moments that lead to this opportunity," he says. "You reflect on that. It gives me a lot of excitement – the things we've done together and now we get to take something with us and stomp on the ground and say we did it, and then move forward to the next thing because if you climb one, you have to climb the next."
Yeagley says he retains the excitement he had in his first Big Ten experience as a player in 1991, and then again years later in his first season as IU head coach.
"The juices get flowing and hopefully the players feed off of that. When it's not that exciting anymore, maybe it's time to stop."
IU's series of early first-half near misses reflected relentless pressure and a tone-setting focus.
Then, a Bogard goal. Then, three minutes later, a second Bogard goal, his eighth of the season.
How big was this? Consider the Hoosiers hadn't allowed two goals in a game all season, and goalkeeper Michael Mroz already had seven shutouts on his resume.
Then came drama.
Two minutes into the second half, Michigan State countered with Andrew Darakjian's eighth goal of the season. Two minutes after that, Heuer scored off a Michael Adu-Gyamfi assist. Six minutes later, the Spartans scored again, making it 3-2.
A leaping save by Mroz, one of his two spectacular ones and four overall, prevented a tying goal with 20 minutes left. The Hoosiers countered with their own firepower. One shot hit off the cross bar. Another sailed just over it.
And then … a championship.
"We stuck together even when we conceded the first goal and then the second," Heuer says. "We knew we would out-grind and out-work them. This was our trophy. No one was going to take it from us."
The Hoosiers seek to take two more trophies -- the Big Ten and NCAA championships.
"We want to win everything we can," Yeagley says. "We'll get back to work quickly. We have a lot more to do. We came here to win things, and this was the first."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Todd Yeagley coaches on the move, a sideline conductor directing Indiana players, pacing, shouting, gesturing with the ferocity of a fencer as drama builds, intensity soars, and Big Ten soccer regular season title opportunity nears at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
A brisk wind swirls as passion rises between No. 4 IU and No. 9 Michigan State on Wednesday night. The clock ticks under three minutes, under two, under one. Hoosiers and Spartans push and push, IU (14-1-3) to sustain its 3-2 lead, Michigan State (10-4-3) to overcome it.
The click hits zero, and Cream and Crimson victory celebration erupts, made sweeter with UCLA's 1-0 win over Washington that clinches the outright Big Ten title. It's the Hoosiers' 20th regular season conference title, 14 more than any other program, and gives them the No. 1 seed in next week's upcoming Big Ten tourney. IU will host the winner between Michigan State and Maryland next Wednesday in the semifinals.
"When I knew I wanted to play college soccer," third-year forward Easton Bogard says, "Indiana was No. 1 on my list for this exact reason. This program is known for chasing titles and making history. I'm glad to have a small chapter in it."
Bogard does his part with a pair of goals. Third-year midfielder Charlie Heuer adds one goal and two assists.
The championship comes a year after IU didn't make the Big Ten tourney, a rarity for a program that has won 36 total conference championships.
"Coach Yeagley sets the expectations," Bogard says. "We know coming in that's what we're chasing every year, that it would be doing the program a disservice not to challenge for it every year."
Adds Heuer: "It feels great to right that wrong."
The aftermath includes a Gatorade drenching of Yeagley, passing out championship t-shirts and hats, and a few celebration runs around Jerry Yeagley Field with the trophy.
"It's an unbelievable feeling,' Heuer says. "This was just one of our goals we set in July. We knew we had a special team. We had a mentality that we weren't going to be denied.
"It got a little tough in moments, but we stuck together and got the job done."
********
IU opened the season 11-0-2, not losing until an Oct. 16 match at Rutgers by a 1-0 score. It then won at Ohio State and at UCLA, and tied Northwestern before the showdown with Michigan State.
"I felt even in the preseason we meshed so well," Heuer says. "We knew we had unbelievable talent, but the way we bonded off the field right away was something special.
"After the first couple of games, we just had this rhythm. We felt when we play our game, nobody can beat us."
Adds Yeagley: "We realized the pieces were fitting well. We had a good feeling early they were in place. They just had to perform."
And so, the Hoosiers did. Still, nearly every Big Ten game was a one-goal cliffhanger, the exceptions being 3-1 wins over then No. 4 Maryland and then No. 17 UCLA.
The Hoosiers finished 7-1-2 in conference action.
"Our conference this year is as hard as it's ever been," Yeagley says. "To win this regular season is the toughest task we've had to do since I've been the head coach with the quality of the teams top to bottom."
Bill Armstrong Stadium remains a formidable advantage. Wednesday night's crowd of 3,178 boosted season attendance past the 40,000 mark for the first time in program history. It's a big reason why IU is 11-0-1 at home this season, outscoring opponents 31-7.
Still, Michigan State almost overcame it after trailing 2-0 at halftime.
"We said they were going to come out strong," Yeagley says. "They had a phenomenal goal right out of the gate. The heart rate was up; there was no doubt about that.
"Our leadership came through. There was a time where we could have unraveled, but we didn't."
Through it all, Yeagley coaches with the energy of the All-American player he once was with IU in the early 1990s.
"You think of all the things that have to go right, all the moments that lead to this opportunity," he says. "You reflect on that. It gives me a lot of excitement – the things we've done together and now we get to take something with us and stomp on the ground and say we did it, and then move forward to the next thing because if you climb one, you have to climb the next."
Yeagley says he retains the excitement he had in his first Big Ten experience as a player in 1991, and then again years later in his first season as IU head coach.
"The juices get flowing and hopefully the players feed off of that. When it's not that exciting anymore, maybe it's time to stop."
********
IU's series of early first-half near misses reflected relentless pressure and a tone-setting focus.
Then, a Bogard goal. Then, three minutes later, a second Bogard goal, his eighth of the season.
How big was this? Consider the Hoosiers hadn't allowed two goals in a game all season, and goalkeeper Michael Mroz already had seven shutouts on his resume.
Then came drama.
Two minutes into the second half, Michigan State countered with Andrew Darakjian's eighth goal of the season. Two minutes after that, Heuer scored off a Michael Adu-Gyamfi assist. Six minutes later, the Spartans scored again, making it 3-2.
A leaping save by Mroz, one of his two spectacular ones and four overall, prevented a tying goal with 20 minutes left. The Hoosiers countered with their own firepower. One shot hit off the cross bar. Another sailed just over it.
And then … a championship.
"We stuck together even when we conceded the first goal and then the second," Heuer says. "We knew we would out-grind and out-work them. This was our trophy. No one was going to take it from us."
The Hoosiers seek to take two more trophies -- the Big Ten and NCAA championships.
"We want to win everything we can," Yeagley says. "We'll get back to work quickly. We have a lot more to do. We came here to win things, and this was the first."
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's SoccerTuesday, November 10
Tuesday, November 10
Tuesday, November 10
Tuesday, November 10