Soccer faces Duke, Denver in Ft. Wayne

Friday’s friendly game against Duke is the second contest of the preseason.

But as the men’s soccer team spends this weekend in Ft. Wayne for its final two exhibition games, the focus is not on  what team IU plays, but rather how the team plays and how well they are prepared.

“Historically Duke is pretty good,” senior forward Andy Adlard said. “We haven’t talked too much about them yet. I don’t get too wrapped up in it.”

The Hoosiers come off Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Xavier and a week of tweaks and fine-tuning.

In particular the team focused their practice on their defensive shape and transitioning the ball to manufacture scoring opportunities.

“So much more emphasis is put on our team in exhibition play,” IU coach Todd Yeagley said. “Obviously we want to get a result, but our focus again goes back to our team preparation. From that standpoint, we’re not really worried about Duke.”

The Hoosiers open against the Blue Devils at 8:10 p.m. Friday. The team will remain in Ft. Wayne for the weekend to play Denver at noon Sunday to wrap up the preseason.
Yeagley begins his inaugural season at home against California and UCLA Sept. 3 and Sept. 5, respectively, as part of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.

“This week we’ve tried to put them in the big-game situations,” Yeagley said. “A lot of my focus has been with the back four and our next unit up, which is our holding midfielder. We want to make sure we are organized and we’re communicating so every situation we’re clicked in and focused.”

The Hoosiers look to build on their 2-0-3 spring season as well as improve on a 12-10-1 campaign last year.

IU is ranked No. 20 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas Preseason Poll.