Hoosier 'O' looking for less zeros

Zero.\nA number the Hoosiers have had to see a lot of this past week after returning home from the University of Southern California Tournament with zero wins and zero goals. IU hopes to buck that trend this weekend at the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge -- playing matches at Missouri and Iowa State.\n"All we dealt with this week in practice was the offense," said IU head coach Mick Lyon. "We need to create more chances, get behind people, and put the ball in the back of the net."\nLast weekend IU (0-1-1) tied Loyola Marymount 0-0 in a 110 minute struggle. Two days later, the Hoosiers lost to then-No. 18 USC 6-0.\n"We are not going into this weekend's games doing anything totally different," said freshman midfielder Ashley Seib. "We have just learned from our mistakes. The team had one of the best practices of the season (Wednesday). The team is going to come out strong; we are all excited."\nThis week, IU has been focusing on coming out ready to play at the sound of the first whistle. The team struggled in the early portions of last weekend's games, especially against USC, but hung with both teams in the second half. Lyon has even altered the pre-game routine to make sure the team is ready.\n"We need to come out strong from the beginning with complete focus and full energy from the first half," Lyon said.\nMissouri and Iowa State should be two challenges for the Hoosiers as they both play a physical style of soccer, but the team still believes they are both winnable games. Missouri and IU are in similar situations, both finishing 0-1-1 after trips out West to open the season. \n"One thing we learned from last week's games was to never let up," said sophomore goalkeeper Stacy Von Boxmeer. "We're going to keep coming for the entire game."\nAfter two straight road trips, the Hoosiers will finally return home for the Hoosier Classic Sept. 9, facing Miami of Ohio and Xavier.