Yeagley gets 500th victory

Jerry Yeagley can usually expect to remain dry after a regular season victory over the Butler Bulldogs. It's really no big deal; Butler hasn't even scored a goal against the Hoosiers since 1996. \nBut after Thursday night's victory at Bill Armstrong Stadium, the men's soccer coach was dowsed with ice water. \nWith the 3-0 win, Yeagley became the second coach in NCAA Division I history to post 500 victories. The first to accomplish the feat was legendary San Francisco head coach Stephen Negoesco who ended his 39-year career with 544 wins.\nYeagley coached the soccer club for 10 years before it became a varsity sport in 1973. Since that year, his teams have not posted a losing season. His Division I record now stands at 500-92-37. \nThat he won No. 500 at home made it even better. In typical Yeagley fashion, he refused to take all the credit for achieving the feat.\n"The honor goes to everyone who's ever worn the uniform, any coach who's ever been with us, any support staff person, and of course, the university and the state," Yeagley said. "It's an honor for all of us."\nWhen the team was at the club level in the 1960s and early 1970s, Yealgey said there were times he considered taking his coaching talents elsewhere. The administration was less than receptive toward making soccer a varsity sport in those days. But Yeagley always worked hard.\n"(The 500 wins) makes it all worth while, from where the program's been, and what it took to get just to be varsity ... let alone win a championship or 500," Yeagley said. "I've just been along for the ride, and it's been a good one."\nYeagley did not anticipate any large celebration. He said he planned on going out for pizza and "just sitting around and feeling good" with his son, Todd, his one-and-a-half-year-old grandson, Ben, and his coaching staff. He said he is most proud of his team's tradition.\n"To have a good year every now and then is one thing," Yeagley said. "But to consistently maintain a standard (is another). We expect to be good, we expect our players every day to get better and we hold them to that standard. It's passed on from one team, upper classmen to freshmen and it's the thread that makes our team special."\nJunior Pat Noonan, IU's star forward, said he was happy to participate in the special game.\n"Today was amazing," Noonan said. "(500 wins) is a great accomplishment and it is an honor to be a part of history. No other coach in the nation deserves this honor as much as Coach does."\nSenior goalie Colin Rogers, who has been with Yeagley for five years, said he has learned invaluable lessons from the coach.\n"Coach Yeagley has really taught me, obviously, a ton on the soccer field," Rogers said. "But I've really grown from him off the field. He teaches (the team) to always do the right thing off the field and in the class room and I think most of all that's what I'll take from him." \nAlthough Yeagley told his team not to think about the game in terms of his record, Rogers said it was hard to ignore.\n"(The record) was talked about," Rogers said. "But as coach always does, he shined the spotlight away (from himself) and just wanted us to think about this as another game, but today we really wanted to get this win for Coach."\nSenior midfielder Tyler Hawley said he is glad to see Yeagley recognized, although he discourages most individual attention.\n"It's great," Hawley said. "Coach deserves every minute in the spotlight even though he doesn't like to be in the spotlight that much. It's great that he gets recognized as being only the second coach ever (to achieve 500 wins)"