Indiana’s first-year soccer coach Todd Yeagley stood just outside the first-base dugout before Saturday’s IU-Notre Dame match at Parkview Field and looked over the place designed for baseball.

“The field conditions are fantastic” Yeagley said with approval. “The dimensions are a little bit tighter, but both teams play with it.”

Just as there are tight pitches in baseball, there was the equally tight pitch Saturday in Notre Dame’s 2-2 (4-2) shootout victory over the Hoosiers before a crowd of 4,214 in the Shindigz National Soccer Festival.

It was so cold, even the green-clad Notre Dame leprechaun mascot turned blue before he and the eight Irish cheerleaders found the warmth of the suite lounge.

While standard dimensions of a soccer field are 120 yards long and 78 yards wide, the lined pitch that extended across the outfield grass and cut through the dirt portion of the infield was 100 yards long and 60 yards across, which made for crowded playing conditions.

“It was fun, and it was a great atmosphere, but the first 10, 15 minutes were a little different,” said Tim Wylie, IU’s freshman from Carroll.

After a scoreless first half that saw few scoring chances, the Irish scored 15 seconds into the second period when freshman Dillon Powers scored from near the top of the box on IU goalkeeper Nate Mitchell, the sophomore from South Side who was inserted into the game at halftime.

It was the beginning of a proverbial slugfest, in which each team scored twice in the final 45 minutes of regulation.

Indiana responded when Will Bruin scored on a close-in shot just to the left of Notre Dame’s keeper. Notre Dame’s Grant Van De Casteele gave the Irish a 2-1 lead, then Bruin scored again off a corner kick for the 2-2 tie, which set up the two 10-minute overtime sessions, followed by the shootout.

“In the middle it was very tight – six guys in about a 25-yard space,” said Joe Brovsky, whose penalty kick goal was the match-clincher for the Irish.

It was more of a test-market event than a soccer exhibition; a time when Parkview Field, home of the TinCaps of the Midwest League, held its first non-baseball sporting event.

“Trying to give the guys a big enough playing surface as we can on a baseball field was probably the biggest challenge,” Parkview Field head groundskeeper Mitch McClary said. “It’s fun. Putting the field out here is not the normal. It’s a headache, but it’s part of the job. It’s something we look forward to, I guess, but not every weekend.”

It came on a weekend when the TinCaps were out of town, and they won’t return to Parkview Field until Tuesday.

“The grass will grow back,” McClary said of any possible wear and tear to the field. “It’s sand-based. Ultimately, I don’t see this doing much negative to the field itself. It’s the outfield. If we have to put a roller on it and put some rye grass down, we will. The only thing I’m worried about is when the guys get back in town there will be some soccer lines, faded, still on the field. Other than that, I’m not too worried about it.”

stwarden@jg.net