Eighth National Title
Indiana University got a goal from Nikita Kotlov in the 64th minute and the stifling Hoosier defense made it stick to defeat Georgetown 1-0 at Regions Park in Hoover, AL, to claim its eighth national championship.
The goal came after a kick from near the corner spot came in to Eriq Zavaleta. Georgetown goalkeeper Tomas Gomez rushed to the right of the goal to keep Zavaleta in check. When Zavaleta’s header attempt came to the center, Kotlov then had a wide-open net and didn’t miss.
It was Kotlov’s ninth goal of the season and one of a dozen shots the Hoosiers took in the second half.
The win concluded an outstanding run at the championship by the Hoosiers. Indiana is the first # 16 seed in history to win the championship.
“You see the emotion from them. You can see it in the locker room. This is special,” said Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley, who was a four-time All-America as a player at IU. “It was a really hard-fought final. I couldn’t be more proud of these players.
“Words are hard to explain what we shared in the locker room and what we shared on the field.” Yeagley said.
The Hoosiers reached the national semifinals for the 18th time in program history where they knocked off Creighton, 1-0 on a goal by freshman Femi Hollinger-Janzen. Indiana has been in the NCAA tournament 37 years, including 26 straight seasons dating back to 1987. IU trails only Saint Louis and UCLA (39) in overall NCAA tournament appearances.
IU is now 14-4 in College Cup semifinal matches.
Georgetown, seeded # 3, also made a great run through postseason play to reach the championship game for the first time in program history. Georgetown’s Steve Neumann was named the tournament’s offensive MVP. Neumann scored three goals in the Hoyas’ semifinal win against Maryland.
In an amazing show of offense in the semifinals, Georgetown and Maryland played to a 4-4 draw through overtime. The Hoyas advanced with a 4-3 PK shootout victory with Gomez saving two Terrapins’ kicks.
IU goaltender Luis Soffner was named Defensive Most Outstanding Player. The Hoosiers didn’t allow a goal over the last 306:25 of the season.