Team honored at annual banquet

Madison, Wis. -- Thursday night, before the men's soccer team claimed the Big Ten Championship crown, many Hoosier players were honored at the Big Ten awards banquet.\nIU swept the individual awards. Junior forward Pat Noonan was named Big Ten Player of the Year, head coach Jerry Yeagley was named Coach of the Year and forward Mike Ambersley shared Freshman of the Year honors with Chad Severs of Penn State.\nNoonan achieved conference player of the week three times during the regular season. He led the conference in shots, shots per game and points per game. Noonan had 12 goals, 8 assists and 32 points on the season. It was the seventh time in the 11-year history of Big Ten soccer that IU has produced a conference player of the year.\n"This is an award that I credit to all my teammates," Noonan said. "One player can't win games by himself, it is a total team effort and we aren't finished with this year yet by any means."\nAmbersley, who played with Noonan at DeSmet Jesuit High School in Ballwin, Mo., had a strong freshman season. He was second on IU's stat sheet behind Noonan with five goals, four assists and 32 points. His biggest offensive outing was against the Michigan Wolverines Oct. 7 in which he posted a hat trick on three shots. The effort earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors.\n"It was exciting (to be named freshman of the year)," Ambersley said. "It definitely wasn't expected. It wasn't a goal of mine coming into this year. It's something you've got to cherish. It's an honor and I'm glad I got it."\nNoonan said he was happy to see his old high school teammate gain recognition from the conference.\n"He deserved it," Noonan said. "He's been playing really well. He works hard every day, in practice and in games. The fact that he came from DeSmet makes it a little easier for me to appreciate it."\nYeagley has been named coach of the year seven times. He surpassed the 500-win mark earlier this season, becoming only the second coach in collegiate soccer history to achieve the milestone. This year, he led the Hoosiers to their fifth straight undefeated Big Ten season. He credited everyone from the athletic trainer to the Hoosier players for the award.\n"When your team is 6-0 and only gives up one goal (in Big Ten play), they earned that award for me," Yeagley said. "It's the players, the assistant coaches, the whole support."\nAlong with the three individual awards, six players were named all-Big Ten. Senior back Josh Rife, junior back John Swann, senior goalie Colin Rogers, junior midfielder Phil Presser and Noonan were all named to the first team. Ambersley was named to the second team.\nYeagley said the many conference honors are a testament to the respect the Hoosiers get from coaches in the Big Ten.\n"The awards are picked by the opposing coaches, you can't vote for your own players," Yeagley said. "It shows how other coaches in the Big Ten feel about our players and our program. I think we have others who weren't recognized who have done a tremendous job for us. But I think they know that anyone who gets an award, they all share in that. They're all part of it and they're all proud of it"