No. 10 IU seeks 11th Big Ten Tournament title Friday

The IU men's soccer team will look to win its 11th Big Ten Tournament title in program history this weekend when the Hoosiers travel to Columbus, Ohio.\nThe No. 10 Hoosiers enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed, which they earned by winning the Big Ten regular season championship. IU faces rival Penn State at 5 p.m. Friday. The Nittany Lions defeated Northwestern 1-0 in double overtime Thursday to advance to the semifinals. With the No. 1 seed, the Hoosiers earned a bye to the semifinals.\nThe Nittany Lions have recorded three consecutive victories against the Hoosiers, including a 1-0 victory this season. The team is excited to play Penn State because the Hoosiers have out played them but failed to finish the game in the three losses, senior forward Kevin Robson said.\n"We want another shot at them," Robson said. "Eventually, if we keep playing the way we are capable of, we will be able to beat Penn State. We are excited to get going and hopefully get to Sunday and win a conference title."\nPenn State won the Big Ten Tournament last season by defeating the Hoosiers 1-0 on a last-minute goal by forward Jason Yeisley. Yeisley, who scored three goals in two games last season against the Hoosiers, will not play due to injury.\nRobson said the Hoosiers need to play calmly against the Nittany Lions and eventually the goals will come.\n"There is a little different mindset," he said. "I don't think it's in the back of our heads; it's just that it's been such a big rivalry game over the years. I think we may get too over-hyped and give them too much respect so we don't come out playing the way we are capable of."\nDespite three losses in a row to Penn State, IU will approach this like it has the previous three meetings, IU coach Mike Freitag said.\n"I'll take the way my team has played against Penn State the last three times any day," he said.\nEntering the game with a record of 8-10-2, Penn State needs to win the Big Ten Tournament if it wants to make the NCAA Tournament. Although the Hoosiers are going to make the NCAA Tournament, doing well in the Big Ten Tournament is important for seeding, sophomore midfielder John Mellencamp said.\n"It adds some fuel to their fire, but at the same time no one on this team likes to lose," Mellencamp said. "I know the Big Ten Tournament means a lot to the players. We know (Penn State's) back is against the wall, but we are going to play like ours is too."\nThe winner of the IU versus Penn State game will face the winner of the Ohio State versus Michigan game Sunday for the Big Ten Tournament final. With one weekend of games left before the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers want to accomplish one of their three goals for the season by winning the Big Ten Tournament.\n"It's our second goal," Freitag said. "The guys will approach it like they did the regular season, and I know if we play up to our potential we can win the tournament"