Butler soccer survives No. 5 IU 'hurricane' to pull upset - Indianapolis Star

Butler soccer survives No. 5 IU 'hurricane' to pull upset - Indianapolis Star

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Save on penalty kick saves Bulldogs David Woods, david.woods@indystar.com

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s soccer. Talent can come from anywhere. Goals can come from anywhere.

Except these are the Indiana Hoosiers, and losses come almost not at all. Heading into Tuesday night’s game, they had seven in four seasons and four nonleague losses since 2014. They advanced to the past two College Cups.

But combine an Italian goalkeeper’s save of a penalty kick and follow that with a sudden goal, and Butler seized the moment at the Sellick Bowl. The Bulldogs went on to beat the No. 5 Hoosiers 2-1 before a crowd of 4,312.

“We were not 11 in the field. We were 12 with them,” said Gabriel Gjergji, a sophomore goalkeeper from Vizenza, Italy.

Brandon Guhl scored the first Butler goal in the Bulldogs' 2-1 victory over IU on Sept. 24, 2019.

 (Photo: Brent Smith/Butler University)

Statistics favored the Hoosiers: 18-5 in shots, 9-0 on corner kicks. But it’s not about stats.

This one turned after Indiana’s Herbert Endeley was tripped by Gjergji in the 18th minute. Victor Bezerra attempted the penalty, but the goalkeeper dove to his left to stop the ball.

Minutes later, Butler midfielder Jack Haywood lofted the ball about 40 yards toward Brandon Guhl. Guhl controlled possession, beat defender Jordan Kleyn and rolled the ball into the left corner of the net.

Butler had been dominated . . . and led 1-0.

“He put me in position where I just had to win the footrace,” Guhl said.

Until then, the Bulldogs had been “suffering,” as Gjergji put it. “They were coming at us like a hurricane.”

Gjergji left his home country two years ago, without knowing English, and landed at Montverde Academy (Fla.). Butler's Paul Snape offered him a scholarship, and the goalkeeper had enough belief in the coach to accept it.

Gabriel Gjergji saved a penalty kick that turned momentum toward Butler in its 2-1 victory over IU on Sept. 24, 2019.

 (Photo: Brent Smith/Butler University)

After Gjergji's save, Butler had belief. There hadn’t been enough of that for the Bulldogs, who were coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 2 Georgetown that evened their record at 3-3. They had a 4-23-4 all-time record against Indiana.

“In sports, especially against a great team, momentum is everything,” Snape said.

The sequence was penalty, PK, save, goal.

“You can’t have a bigger swing in our sport,” Indiana coach Todd Yeagley said. “If we don’t have a penalty and the game goes 1-0, there’s actually a different feel than what it was.”

Butler expanded its lead to 2-0 in the 52nd minute on a left-footed goal by Alex Lehtinen. For the Bulldogs by then: two shots, two goals.

The Hoosiers kept pressing the attack and finally broke through in the 83rd minute on a goal by Jack Maher after Butler failed to clear a corner kick. Five of the last six games in this series have gone to overtime . . . but Indiana (4-1-2) was never able to tie it.

“Our guys were everywhere,” Snape said. “They were covering everything.”

Oddly, the outcome almost certainly helped both teams.

Snape said the Bulldogs could use it as a springboard. Yeagley said the Hoosiers, who start four freshmen from the nation’s No. 2-ranked recruiting class, will only get better. After all, they did control play, if not the scoreboard.

“The best is nowhere close yet,” Maher said. “When it comes to the team and the talent that we have, this is going to be a very, very good team come playoff time.”

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com or call 317-444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

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2019-09-25 03:08:00Z
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2019/09/24/butler-soccer-survives-no-5-iu-hurricane-pull-upset/2419146001/

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