CARSON, Calif. -- When IU coach Mike Freitag stood among his men in the locker room after winning his first national championship as head coach and the program's seventh, he singled out one player -- Mike Ambersley.\nAmbersley took a redshirt season during the 2003 national title campaign and tried to battle back all season long to return to the level of play he was at when the Big Ten named him Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2001. He admitted in Friday's post-game press conference after the Hoosiers defeated Maryland 3-2 in double overtime that he placed too much pressure on himself to get back to the high level he was once at, and scoring IU's first goal against Maryland helped to relieve some of that pressure.\nAmbersley's equalizer against Maryland was the most important of his season-ending three goals, as it came when it counts most -- tournament time.\nHowever, another goal IU fans will remember is the penalty kick he scored against UCSB in Sunday's national title game. Ambersley was the Hoosiers' last shooter in the five-man penalty kick squad, and put his shot in the upper-right corner of the goal, securing IU's back-to-back title, and the seventh in the program's 32-year history.\n"That's why I worked so hard (at home) in Saint Louis, so I could come back to be right here today," Ambersley said. "It's been a long couple years. It was hard to watch them win last year, even though I was rooting for them, but this just makes it that much more sweeter."
sh: Nolly saves the day for Hoosiers\nThe experience of fifth-year senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly proved beneficial for IU, as he led IU to a 4-3 win in penalty kicks and a repeat title over the University of California-Santa Barbara Sunday afternoon.\nNolly had yet to give up a goal in the 2004 NCAA soccer tournament until he allowed two in the Hoosiers' 3-2 win Friday over No. 3 seed Maryland. He allowed one goal to the UCSB Gauchos, Sunday, but had the national title within his reach because junior Mike Ambersley's penalty kick put IU up 3-2 in the decisive shootout over UCSB. Nolly stopped the Gauchos' final attempt when junior Nate Boyden shot the ball to Nolly's left, and he saved the ball on the ground in his chest.\nNolly finished the 2004 title run with a 0.625 goals against average and 11 shutouts for the season. For his career, he only allowed 0.66 goals per game and held the opponent scoreless 30 times.\n"I never really look at the moves (of players taking penalty kicks)," Nolly said. "My focus is really on the ball. I get a read right away on what I'm going to do and what I'm going to and then I stick with it. Those last two I felt they were going that way. I went all out for them and the ball was there.\n"I wasn't nervous (for the penalty kicks). I usually don't get nervous for PK shootouts. Once it got going, I thought what a way to go out, winning in a PK shootout where eyes are on me."
sh: From Patriarch to Fan\nHe roamed the sidelines during the program's 31 years as a varsity program, leading his squads to 16 College Cup appearances and six national titles. Now, retired coach Jerry Yeagley sits in the stands and sees the program he originally started as a club sport at IU, continue to produce a national title under first-year coach Mike Freitag.\nYeagley attended every game this season and said he was going crazy watching penalty kicks determine the 2004 national champion. Yeagley said watching the game in the stands is rougher on him because when he was coaching along the sidelines, his stomach was still churning, but his mind was preoccupied with who he was going to substitute into the game, then speaking with his assistants about the team's next plan of attack.\n"I can't explain the feeling I had from the time that Jay (Nolly) stopped that penalty kick to through out the celebration, it was one of the happiest times for me," Yeagley said. "It's special and I always think back of 42 years ago when I had that first club meeting with eight guys that this could ever happen. So many people have been part of building a tradition over the years and I can't help but reminisce during that period of time and it makes it all the more gratifying."\n-- Contact staff writers Steve Slivka and Brian Janosch at smslivka@indiana.edu and bjanosch@indiana.edu.
