Indiana is one win from adding a ninth championship star to its soccer jerseys.
The Hoosiers can do that tonight when they face Marshall in the NCAA championship in Carey, N.C.
It will be an NCAA-record 16th championship game appearance for the Hoosiers, who won the last of their eight titles in 2012.
It’s Marshall’s first NCAA final. The Thundering Herd are trying to become the first unseeded team to win a soccer title in 15 years.
“They are very good,” Indiana coach Todd Yeagley said. “They possess the ball. They are heavily international. It will be a neat challenge.”
Marshall comes in with a 12-2-3 record. The Herd eliminated top-seeded Clemson in the third round, then beat Georgetown and North Carolina by 1-0 scores to reach the final.
“No disrespect to the opposition that we’ve seen up to this point, but we are not looking at those jerseys and fearing them. It’s just another game," Marshall star winger and Englishman Jamil Robert said.
Indiana advanced to the final with a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh in the semifinals Friday night.
Yeagley is in his 11 th season at Indiana, where he was a four-time All-American as a player under his father, Hall of Fame coach Jerry Yeagley, who won the program’s first six titles.
The second-ranked Hoosiers have lost only once this season, which was moved from the fall to the spring because of COVID-19.
“The adaptability of this team is fantastic,” Yeagley said. “The resilience is phenomenal.
“This has been an absolute joy to coach in a tough year. To be here with one game remaining is really special.”
Indiana is led by Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Victor Bezerra and Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Roman Celentano. Bezerra is one of three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, which goes to the national player of the year.
"Our guys are having a blast," Yeagley said. "The bonding we've done has taken our team to a new level.
"We've always had good team chemistry, but I feel it's at an all-time high. Everyone knows his role and is 100 percent in it."
This will be the first meeting between Indiana and Marshall. The game kicks off at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
