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Tuesday, March 19
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

Team relaxes before battling

With the best record in the Big Ten, the men's soccer team earned a bye into the second round of the conference tournament this weekend, which will take place at the McClimon Soccer Complex in Madison, Wis.\nThe No. 4 Hoosiers (12-3-1, 6-0) will have an opportunity to relax Thursday while Michigan and Wisconsin battle for the right to meet them Friday at 2 p.m. for the semi-final match.\nSenior goalie Colin Rogers said although the bye is a benefit, the team hasn't forgotten last year's tournament, in which they lost to Ohio State.\n"(The bye) is a little bit of an advantage in that we have the day off while (Michigan and Wisconsin) are going to play a hard-fought 90 minutes," Rogers said. "But we just keep looking back at last year, and we had the same advantage (as the No. 1 seed), and it didn't work out for us. We know whoever we play, Michigan or Wisconsin, it's going to be a battle."\nAlthough IU defeated Michigan and Wisconsin in the regular season with shutouts of 3-0 and 4-0, respectively, both possible opponents have the ability to create some problems for the Hoosiers this weekend.\nWisconsin (10-7-1, 3-3) boasts two of the best offensive performers in the Big Ten. Senior forward Dominic DaPra leads the Big Ten in scoring with 15 goals and 34 points. His goals per game average is good for 10th in the nation at .92 and he ranks 14th nationally with 2.12 points per game.\n"(DaPra) is a goal scorer," Wisconsin coach Kalekeni Banda said in a press release. "Just give him the opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net and he can do that. He's shown he can do that all throughout his career."\nSenior Aaron Lauber joins DaPra at the forward position. Lauber was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Nov. 5 after tallying four goals against Northwestern Nov. 1 and scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 upset of No.14 Ohio State last Sunday.\nSenior back Ryan Hammer said Wisconsin has a talented squad.\n"(DaPra and Lauber) are pretty solid," he said. "I think they're a team that you can't take lightly. They like to counter and like to play possession and try to move the ball around. They're a pretty skilled team."\nMichigan (9-6-1, 3-3) brags two goalies who have been awarded Defensive Player of the Week. Just as Wisconsin did, Michigan upset Ohio State last week. \nFreshman goalie Brian Lau earned the win as well as the player of the week award after shutting out the Buckeyes for a 1-0 victory. It was the first win against a ranked opponent for the Wolverines. \nFreshman goalie Joe Zawacki earned player of the week honors for Sept. 17-23 after blanking Butler and Northwestern for 1-0 victories.\nSenior back Josh Rife said both teams are respectable but was most impressed with Michigan in the regular season. \n"I think Michigan would give us a little more trouble," Rife said. "Overall, their team speed was real quick. I think that kind of caught us off guard the first time, and we had a little difficulty with them."\nHead coach Jerry Yeagley said Michigan would prove to be a tough match-up, but added that playing Wisconsin could be challenging as well. \n"Michigan is a team that has really matured over the year, whereas Wisconsin has been a bit of a Dr. Jeckyll," he said. "You never know which one is going to show up, and that's dangerous. We definitely won't take either team lightly, and we'll have to be ready. I think either of those two teams could surely beat any team in the conference"

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