IU earns Hollywood ending

A cool December afternoon set the stage\nThe cameras rolled.\nSeniors Jay Nolly, Danny O'Rourke and Greg Badger stepped into the starring roles.\nAnd even though the entire story was far from finished, this scene ended in a fashion far beyond any of the dreams for the three stars with the heroes riding off into the sunset − of Carson, Calif -- and into the College Cup.\nWin or lose, Sunday's match-up against Tulsa would be the final home game for IU's three senior leaders. And with a goal, an assist and a shutout between them, they made sure to go out on top.\n"This was the game I wanted to see for them," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "It was perfect."\nThe 4-0 explosion from the Hoosiers was packed rich with storylines fitting for the Hoosiers storybook type season. Sophomore forward Jacob Peterson scored his first and second goals in more than a month after scoring eight in the first part of the season. \nYet, another unlikely hero in the form of junior midfielder Jordan Chirico broke the tie in the second half with only his second goal of the year. But in the end, it was midfielder O'Rourke's exit from the field that had the 3,500 plus in attendance on their feet, and the 10 to 20 in the front row bowing and screaming that they "weren't worthy."\n"On the field I wasn't thinking that it's my last game," O'Rourke said. "Because, it sounds cliché, but I play every game like it's my last. But when I came off the field ... the emotions came over me. When I saw the tears on the coaches' eyes, a little emotion just came over me too."\nFor goalkeeper Nolly, the story was one told many times before -- a shutout. It was Nolly's third straight shutout of the postseason, and his eleventh on the year. On paper, the game wasn't much different than any of the others in his string of more than 5,300 minutes played in a row. But that's just on paper.\n"The first game I saw here as a player," Nolly said, "all the way around the field the seats were just packed. I just thought, 'I want to play in front of this crowd some time,' and that was the feeling I got today. Just with how loud they are and how many people came."\nTo fully complete the Hollywood plot line, someone had to take on that role of the unlikely hero, and the senior forward Badger was proud to take the part.\nBadger took the field in the second half with the game already well in hand at 3-0. But in the 66th minute, Badger's typically unselfish play ended up paying off big. Passing off an opportunity in front of the net led to junior forward Pat Yates' shot being deflected and the ball being left sitting on the goal line. That's when Badger stepped up and made his final game at Bill Armstrong Stadium that much more memorable.\n"You come to practice and you know you're most likely not going to get in the game," Freitag said. "But you come out and you work so hard, and Greg Badger has done that for us during his time here. I told him before the game that he'd probably see some time today because he earned it, and he earned the goal."\nSo the story ended with two games left to be played before a second straight title can be won, but the final leg of their career at home couldn't have been sweeter. But it was the producer of this story, former IU coach Jerry Yeagley, who had the final say. \n"It's a great class," he said. "A great group, but more importantly they're great individuals. I couldn't be any happier for all of them."\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.