Hoosiers seek 3rd straight win tonight

IU men’s soccer coach Mike Freitag said the reason the Hoosiers lost three games in a row earlier this season is because they were missing the hustle – they didn’t focus for 90 minutes. \nThe No.17 Hoosiers (5-3-1, 1-0) seemed to have regained their form in their last two wins and will be looking to counteract that losing streak with a third win when they face the University of Illinois at Chicago (4-2-2) at 7 p.m tonight at Bill Armstrong Stadium. \nA recent 3-2 overtime win over Michigan should help the Hoosiers’ confidence heading into the match against UIC. Junior forward Kevin Noschang broke out of his scoring slump last weekend netting his fourth goal of the season in an overtime effort against Michigan.\nNoschang got off to a fast start to begin the season and received numerous accolades, including National Player of the Week for his two-goal weekend in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, but he hasn’t seen as much playing time lately. His presence will help the Hoosiers be successful in their trek through the tough Big Ten season. \nFreitag said Noschang responded well in the Michigan contest.\n“(Noschang) had a couple games where he was off form a little bit, but I like the way he responded,” Freitag said. “Whether you’re starting or off bench you have to make the most of the time that you’re given and Noschang did that.”\nIU lost to Creighton, Saint Louis and Alabama-Birmingham earlier in the season, but the Hoosiers seemed to have turned a corner since their 2-0 shutout of Butler Sept. 26. \nBilly Weaver was the catalyst behind IU’s two goals against the Bulldogs with two assists that led to scores by sophomore midfielders Lee Hagedorn and Eric Alexander. Weaver said he is enjoying his success, but knows his teammates will do the job when he’s not out there. \n“When you’re feeling good you want to be out there, and we come to IU because we’re all competitive,” Weaver said. “But we love each other as a team, and we’re confident that whoever is on the field will get it done.”\nWeaver followed up his Butler performance with a score of his own in the Hoosiers’ win over Michigan. His performance has not gone unnoticed since he was recently named to the Soccer?America and College Soccer News Teams of the Week.\nFreitag said he has been impressed with Weaver’s play.\n“Billy (Weaver) is just a good soccer player. He’s an upperclassmen – his leadership and play has been really good as of late, and we’re happy,” Freitag said. “We need everyone to step up at some point, (senior goalkeeper) Chris Munroe hadn’t played a minute, but he did his job when (junior goalkeeper) Chay (Cain) got hurt, and that’s what we expect from all our players.”\nAfter jumping back on the winning trail, IU now welcomes the unranked UIC Flames into Bloomington. Though the Hoosiers recently defeated No.16 Michigan, they aren’t overlooking anyone after UAB stunned them Sept. 21 with a 2-1 loss.\nGoalkeeper Chay Cain said his team won’t repeat the UAB game against UIC.\n“We can’t overlook them, they’re a very good team,” Cain said. “We competed against them in preseason games the past few years, and they always played us tough.”