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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

Coach shuffles soccer team's starting lineup

Yeagley hopes various switches improve attack, defense

Men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley didn't like what he saw offensively Friday night when IU played Portland, and he didn't hesitate to change his lineup.\nIn hopes of getting center midfielders Ryan Mack, a junior, and Pat Noonan, a sophomore, more involved in the attack, Yeagley tried several lineups against Portland Friday and UCLA Saturday.\nAgainst the Pilots, Yeagley used both Mack and Noonan as outside midfielders, while moving sophomore outside midfielder Phil Presser into the middle.\nYeagley fiddled with the lineup again against the Bruins, using Mack as a striker and Presser again as a center midfielder. Yeagley said the new lineup might be here to stay.\n"We wanted to get Mack or Noonan wide," he said. "We thought we could get some more going wide, so we tried both of them wide. We tried everything to get one or more of them involved.\n"We might keep Mack up front, at least we'll have that option. We might use him both places ' midfield and up top. But when he went up top, I think it caused a lot of problems, more balance. And Phil Presser, he did a real solid job in the center midfield."

Injury-plagued defense\nThe Hoosiers didn't get the ball in the net as often as they might have liked to during the weekend, but Yeagley's said his main concern is still his inexperienced defense.\n"Our ball movement out of the back of the team was very, very poor," he said. "The threads and principles of good IU defense just weren't there. It was one of the most shaky defensive performances I've seen from our squad."\nIU's defense might have struggled in part because of injuries.\nBoth starting marking backs, juniors John Swann and Tyler Hawley, are playing with injuries. Swann has been plagued by a hamstring injury, and Hawley couldn't even play Saturday because of an ankle sprain. Freshman Matt Ahumada, who Yeagley expects to see time as a marking back, is also out of the lineup because of injury.

Bruins freshmen boast national team experience\nPart of the reason the Hoosiers lost to UCLA Saturday was Bruin freshman goalkeeper D.J. Countess, who's also the goalkeeper of the U.S. under-20 national team.\n "He made some great saves," IU junior midfielder Ryan Mack said. "His reactions were great in the first half. He made some great saves, especially on the PK (penalty kick). He had a good game. He's great for a freshman." \nThe Bruins boast many freshmen who are also national team members and played against the Hoosiers Saturday.\nCountess, Nelson Akwari, Adolfo Gregorio and Alex Yi all started and are members of the U-20 national team. Freshmen Leonard Griffin and Matt Taylor are also national team pool players and started for the Bruins Saturday. Cliff McKinley, a member of the U-18 national team, saw playing time, as did Ty Maurin and Tony Lawson, both freshmen and national team pool players.\nScoring woes\nYeagley tried several players as strikers over the weekend, but got scoring from none of them. Freshman Lucas Christian and senior Matt Fundenberger started for the Hoosiers both games but shared time with several other players.\nFreshman Sasha Barber and sophomore Michael Bock both came off the bench to give IU an offensive spark. Yeagley said the Hoosiers still need to see more out of their strikers.\nFundenberger, the most experienced Hoosier striker, agrees.\n"I always try to go out and play intense," he said. "But, you know, the bottom line is you gotta' score. I'm playing forward, that's my job. So obviously I wasn't too successful. But we'll get better"

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