New style, new faces, emerging leaders: No. 11 Indiana men's soccer 'has a lot of confidence'

Indianapolis Star

12 hours ago

BLOOMINGTON — Todd Yeagley's Indiana men's soccer team begins its regular season in blue-blood fashion Thursday night, when the No. 11 Hoosiers host No. 9 Clemson.
The reigning Big Ten champions — picked this week to win the league again — will debut healthy roster turnover against last season's ACC runner-up. Familiar faces like JT Harms, Tommy Mihalic, Patrick McDonald and Sam Sarver have moved on, with IU rethinking its approach according to personnel changes in several key areas.
Still, between familiar faces, veteran transfers and a fresh crop of promising freshmen, Yeagley and his staff are confident they possess the tools for another long postseason stay this fall.
As the Hoosiers prepare for their opener, we examine pressing questions at each level of Yeagley's team, back to front:
Harms' 62 starts in 63 appearances gave Yeagley rock-solid consistency between the sticks for three seasons. Now, he's playing professionally, and the Hoosiers will rethink the position in his absence.
'Top to bottom,' Yeagley told IndyStar, 'this might be the most well put-together group of goalkeepers (Yeagley has had at IU).'
The frontrunners touch both ends of the experience spectrum. Holden Brown, a graduate student, and Judewellin Michel, a freshman, will compete for the No. 1 shirt this fall.
Brown, a Zionsville native, transferred from Virginia last year but missed the 2024 season to a knee injury. Michel comes to IU from the CF Montreal academy, lending him MLS-level developmental experience.
Unlike Harms — who measured 6 foot 1, on the short side for a goalkeeper — Brown and Michel each fit the positional stereotype, measuring at 6-4 and 6-5, respectively.
'You can't ask JT to stretch to 6-5,' Yeagley said. 'There'll be a moment in training where I'm like, 'Whoa, I haven't seen that save.''
But neither player can replicate Harms' experience, and neither is probably quite so adept at playing with the ball at his feet (and therefore stepping further away from goal to influence build-up play when Indiana is in possession).
Which means whether the starting job falls to the old hand or the freshman, Indiana will probably ask and expect something different from its goalkeeper than it has in recent years.
Brown and Michel split time as IU's No. 1 relatively evenly across a pair of comfortable preseason wins against Western Michigan and Louisville. Yeagley said he can envision either in goal for Clemson on Thursday.
'The team just has a lot of confidence, as they did with JT,' Yeagley said. 'You just feel like, both those guys with their length, can make a play on a ball they shouldn't have to get but they can.'
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Here, Yeagley enjoys both experience and stability.
In central defense, sophomore Josh Maher carries on the family tradition in Bloomington having started all 20 matches he appeared in across 2024. He'll have Virginia transfer Victor Akoum (12 starts in 16 matches last season) alongside him, and veteran back Alex Barger on the left.
Penn transfer Ben Do can play down the right, while Breckin Minzey can play either central or wide.
'Breckin Minzey had a phenomenal spring,' Yeagley said.
Yeagley even mentioned 6-3 forward Nolan Kinsella as a potential fullback/wing back, with his underlying emphasis on lineup flexibility.
Players like Barger (5-9) and Do (5-8) play like more traditional wide defenders, while Kinsella, Minzey (5-11) and Akoum hand Yeagley and his staff greater size.
In moments when the Hoosiers need more height to attack corners, or protect a late lead, they can flip their defense knowing multiple players can manage inside and outside roles, while IU knows it still has capable hands when more traditional skills and ideas are needed.
'I like our flexibility within the roster build,' Yeagley said. 'We have a lot of moves we can make.'
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IU's persistent roster theme strikes hardest in midfield, where Patrick McDonald gave the Hoosiers one more year after being drafted but is now with Toronto FC II in MLS Next Pro.
But he still has returners there, including sophomore Charlie Heuer, and veteran campaigner Jack Wagoner, who's started 45 games and appeared in 63 across three seasons.
'With Patty gone,' Yeagley said, 'Charlie has been really, really good in stepping into an important role.'
Indiana also reached for transfers will specific characteristics there, like Jacopo Fedrizzi (Evansville) and Cristiano Bruletti (Michigan State).
'Cristiano Bruletti, he didn't come off the field for two seasons for Michigan State,' Yeagley said.
Fedrizzi also adds threat from set pieces for the Hoosiers, reflecting their shifting approach in attack.
'The final pass and ideas are really high-end for him,' Yeagley said.
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That will be crucial for a team rethinking its approach to creating chances this fall.
Sam Sarver, one of the most-decorated forwards in program history, now plays for FC Dallas. Tommy Mihalic, who added 15 goals plus assists across the last two seasons, plies his trade for LAFC2.
Coupled to other expected attrition, Yeagley acknowledged IU lost 'a lot of attacking firepower' this offseason.
'If you look at some of our guys that will appear in our front group, there will be times there might be one returner on the field at a time,' he said.
Which is why Yeagley and his staff were happy to rethink the entire attack, rather than plugging and playing with less-proven pieces.
Sophomore Michael Nesci and junior Collins Oduro, who elected to return to IU after being drafted by Orlando City this winter, give Yeagley proven experience. Butler transfer Palmer Ault (33 goals plus assists in three seasons) will factor heavily into Indiana's plans up top. Easton Bogard and Clay Murador are back.
And promising freshman forward Colton Swan gives the Hoosiers a dynamic presence in the No. 9 shirt. He was a prolific goal scorer in the Colorado Rapids Academy and won golden boot honors in the Under-16 MLS Cup.
It was in part because of Swan's ability to score goals from set pieces and headers that Indiana pursued Fedrizzi.
'Colton Swan, his heading ability was really elite for his age,' Yeagley said. 'We knew service was really important, so we wanted to add that to our arsenal.'
All that turnover led Yeagley to schedule a difficult preseason, one his team came through with flying colors.
The Hoosiers defeated preseason-ranked Western Michigan 5-0 across four 30-minute periods, then dispatched Louisville — a consistent NCAA tournament team — 3-0 in 110 minutes.
Those games handed Yeagley a long look at his team's best and worst, ahead of a season in which the Hoosiers will need to gel quickly. And he knows there won't be hiding places Thursday night either, with IU challenging itself early and often to get the best out of another promising team.
'These are the games you not only have to win in the Big Ten, but Louisville and Western Michigan are teams that are in the tournament, and way different styles, which is also intentional,' Yeagley said. 'That tested us in some ways the scoreline didn't show. We have a much better idea of where some of these guys are.'