College soccer blue bloods battle with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
NCAA Division I men’s soccer’s two greatest champions meet for the second time this season as No. 6-seeded Indiana hosts Saint Louis on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Kickoff is set for noon ET, and tickets are on sale here. Indiana students can get in free with a valid Crimson Card. Fans unable to attend the match can stream it live via the ESPN+ digital platform.
To see the NCAA Tournament bracket, GO HERE.
KICKING OFF
- Indiana owns a 9-1-1 record on its home pitch and a 72-7-4 (.892) home record in the NCAA Tournament all-time. IU has welcomed a single-season program record attendance of 34,680 fans to Armstrong Stadium this season.
- The Hoosiers and Billikens previously met this season on September 3, a 1-0 Indiana home victory courtesy of Collins Oduro’s seventh-minute winner.
- Indiana ranks No. 2 in the country in scoring with 46 goals in the regular season. The attack is directed by Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Palmer Ault, who leads the NCAA with 42 points from 16 goals and 10 assists. Ault is the first NCAA DI player since 2017 to eclipse 15 goals and 10 assists in the same season.
- IU makes its 50th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The program boasts the NCAA records for appearances in the round of 16 (44), quarterfinal (29), final four (22) and national title match (17). Indiana’s eight national championships are the most since 1973, its first season as a varsity program.
- This is Indiana’s NCAA-record 39th consecutive appearance. No other Division I men’s soccer program has an active streak greater than nine straight seasons.
- The NCAA Selection Committee awarded Indiana the No. 6 national seed, the program’s NCAA-record 25th national seed and 11th in 12 seasons.
ABOUT THE BILLIKENS
- Saint Louis advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round with a 2-1 victory over Kentucky on Thursday in St. Louis. The Billikens equalized in the 86th minute from freshman midfielder Jack Di Maria, who went on to score the golden goal in the 104th minute.
- The Billikens are unbeaten in their last 11 matches, earning a 7-0-4 record since September 27. That stretch includes an unbeaten Atlantic 10 season (5-0-3) and a penalty shootout victory over Dayton in the conference tournament final last Sunday.
- A-10 Coach of the Year Kevin Kalish leads the Billikens in his eighth season, sporting an 80-33-34 record during his time in St. Louis as well as a 129-79-48 career record over 14 seasons as a head coach.
- Graduate goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel repeated as the Atlantic 10 Goalkeeper of the Year as one of nine Billikens to earn all-conference honors.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Billikens own 10 national championships, the most in NCAA Division I men’s soccer. Saint Louis won its most recent title in 1973, the year IU men’s soccer became a varsity sport. Since then, the Hoosiers have shined as the standard, winning eight titles – the most in that span.
- Indiana has had the significant better of the all-time series with Saint Louis, winning 25 of the 39 meetings.
- IU and Saint Louis have met five times in the NCAA Tournament, resulting in five Hoosier home victories.
- The two teams met in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament on IU’s road to its 22nd NCAA College Cup. The teams were separated only by Ryan Wittenbrink’s 75th-minute goal in the 1-0 Hoosier home win.
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