Nguyen named National Player of the Week

When the IU men's soccer team trailed by three goals with 17 minutes remaining, it took an 18-year-old freshman to bring the Hoosiers back.\nFor his efforts against Maryland and Notre Dame, College Soccer News named freshman forward Lee Nguyen as its National Player of the Week. Nguyen's two assists and one goal also earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.\nNguyen is the first to receive the honor since former Hoosier and current Major League Soccer player Ned Grabavoy won the award Oct. 13, 2003. Nguyen was also named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for the second time this season. It is the fifth time a Hoosier has been named to the team this season.\n"It feels good, but it's a team effort. I could not have played well without the team," Nguyen said. "It helps with (junior forward Jacob Peterson) finishing and (sophomore defender Greg Stevning) finishing on the corner kick. We played great defense in the second half, which made it all possible."\nNguyen netted the first goal against Notre Dame last Wednesday when he bent in a 25-yard free kick. The goal was Nguyen's fifth of the season and second game-winner.\nNguyen also spearheaded the Hoosier comeback in Saturday night's tie against Maryland. Trailing the Terrapins by three with 17 minutes left, Nguyen assisted junior forward Jacob Peterson and then a minute later crossed the ball into the Maryland penalty box where a Terrapin defender deflected the ball in for an own goal. The tying goal came on a Nguyen corner kick that found the Stevning's head with five seconds remaining in regulation. Nguyen leads the Big Ten with 10 assists and is one assist away from tying the Hoosier freshman record held by current assistant coach Todd Yeagley.\n"I think Lee has come on," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "He has found his niche with this team and feeling comfortable with the players around him. He's making some better decisions, playing a little bit quicker and not trying to do it all himself. I think when he was a kid in the youth level he had to do it all. He now knows he has good players around him, and he's now making better decisions because of that."\nFor Nguyen, the transition to college soccer has been easy because of the experience he gained playing in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup this summer.\n"It's been easy because I have been playing with the national team," Nguyen said. "There were a bunch of college and pro guys playing there so I got a little bit of a taste before I came here."\nWhile he is proud of being recognized for his impressive play last week, Nguyen and the Hoosiers have one thing on their minds heading into Thursday night's showdown with No. 1 Akron -- showing the country who the "real" No. 1 team is.\n"We are looking to make a statement to prove to everyone that we are No. 1," Nguyen said.