Hoosiers face MLS squad in friendly game

In the months after the end to their regular season, the IU men’s soccer team has only seen familiar faces on the opposing team bench – their own. After months of scrimmages and practices, this weekend the Hoosiers will be seeing fewer familiar faces – faces that get paid to play the game they all love. \nThe Hoosiers will take on Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew on Saturday morning at the Crew’s practice facility in Obetz, Ohio. The match will be the first exhibition game for the Hoosiers. \nThe Columbus Crew roster includes three former Hoosiers who played on the 2003 national championship team. Midfielder Ned Grabavoy helped the Hoosiers earn their sixth national title before leaving for Major League Soccer. His teammates Danny O’Rourke and Jed Zayner helped guide the team to another championship the next year. Grabavoy and Zayner played for the Crew last season, and O’Rourke signed a contract with the Crew after the 2006 campaign.\nIU coach Mike Freitag had the opportunity to work with all three players for the duration of their collegiate careers and looks forward to meeting them again on the field. Despite their being the opposition this weekend, Freitag can’t help but be happy to see them succeeding in the pros. \n“It’s always good to see those guys,” Freitag said. “I’m so proud of all of them. They were great players when they were here, and now they’ve gone into the pros and continue to have great careers.” \nThe two teams also share another connection. Former IU player and current assistant coach Todd Yeagley played for the Crew for seven seasons after he graduated from IU. Yeagley, son of storied IU coach Jerry Yeagley, began his coaching career with the Hoosiers the same season O’Rourke, Zayner and Grabavoy won the national championship. \nThe Hoosiers finished last season with a second-round loss in the NCAA tournament. Key players Josh Tudela and John Michael Hayden were drafted into MLS this winter. Despite these losses, freshman forward Darren Yeagle is confident his team can still continue to succeed without them. \n“Of course it’s going to hurt losing all of our seniors,” Yeagle said. “But we have people stepping up to replace where they were playing.” \nFreitag knows that this game will present some obstacles for his team, including finding replacements for those lost seniors. \n“We’re going to be undermanned a little bit,” Freitag said. “But that’s going to be opportunities for other guys \nto play.” \nIn addition to losing the seniors, the team will also be missing a few other players due to injuries and medical precautions. One player, defender Ofori Sarkodie, is training with the Under-20 \nNational team. \nEven though IU’s first spring game is against paid athletes, sophomore goalkeeper Chay Cain has confidence in his team’s chances in coming out victorious. \n“We always have a chance to win,” Cain said. “So we’re going to go in and play them like any other team.” \nThe game is set to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Hoosier’s next matchup will be against St. Louis on March 31 at Yeagley Field.