Women try to get back on track; men seek revenge

Homecoming might have been in Bloomington last weekend, but don't tell that to some of the members of the IU men's soccer team.\nFor six Hoosiers, this weekend's road trip will be a homecoming of sorts as the team travels to the Chicagoland area for two Big Ten matches.\nIU (7-1-3 overall, 1-1-1 Big Ten) will face Wisconsin at 8 p.m. Friday (4-8-0 overall, 0-2-0 Big Ten) before heading to Northwestern (6-4-0 overall, 1-2-0 Big Ten) for a match at 3 p.m. Sunday. \nThe Illinois ties for the Hoosiers run deep. Senior midfielder Brian Plotkin hails from Lisle, Ill., junior defender Jed Zayner is from Orland Park, Ill. and junior back Julian Dieterle is from Elgin, Ill. Freshmen midfielder Brad Ring is a native of Rockford, Ill., while freshman goalkeeper Chay Cain and freshman defender Chris Schuler are both from Aurora, Ill. \nRing will split the time he spends with his family this weekend as his sister, Jessica, is a three-year letter winner and defender with the Badger women's soccer team.\n"On the field, she could probably beat me up," Ring said. "She's a strong girl."\nZayner said he is really looking forward to being able to kick the ball in his neighborhood underneath the streetlights this weekend, just as he did as a child. But, he said, even though Northwestern crashed IU's party at Armstrong Stadium last year by ending the team's 31-game unbeaten streak at home with a 1-0 win, the Hoosiers need to focus as though its just another game on the schedule.\n"We've gotta be focused on every play in the game, rather than revenge," Zayner said.\nPlotkin said playing in the Chicago area works well as a great recruiting tool. With top youth club teams, like the Chicago Magic and Chicago Sockers, it allows young players to see the Hoosiers in action and maybe one day make the trip to Bloomington.\n"I know my little brother's high school team is going to be out there for our game against Northwestern on Sunday," Plotkin said. "They've got some good players there and when we travel, people come to watch so hopefully, especially in Chicago, it's a good place for young soccer players. Hopefully they can come out and see us."\nThe cream and crimson bring a three-match winning streak into the weekend with wins over IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, Louisville and Michigan. Ranked No. 8 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, the Hoosiers are currently led by junior midfielder Josh Tudela's scoring surge and the goalkeeping of Munroe.\nFor the duo's efforts in the past week, the Big Ten named them Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, as Tudela had three goals in the last two games and Munroe notched his fifth and sixth clean sheets in the same time span.\n"I'm happy the way the team is playing," IU head coach Mike Freitag said. "Four blemishes with the loss to Penn State and the three ties. But I look at it two different ways, I look at performance and I look at the results. I don't like the results, but the performances have been pretty good all year and I think we're getting better every game"