IU falls to Ohio State on penalty kicks

It was deja vu for the Hoosiers this weekend. \nAfter a physical and hard-fought game, IU and Ohio State saw themselves stalemated at a 0-0 tie, much as they had earlier in the season. This time, however, penalty kicks were assessed in order to determine which of the two powerhouses would win the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Although the score will go into the record books as a tie, it was OSU who came out on top, 5-4, and secured themselves a tournament bid. \n“It’s frustrating,” freshman Neil Wilmarth said. “Their two center backs are strong and hard to get by. It makes it hard to finish an opportunity when we get one.” \nWilmarth nearly scored a goal with 9:46 left in regulation. Freshman Daniel Kelly fed Wilmarth, who was wide open in front of the net, the ball inside the 18-yard box. He sent a shot toward the goal, but the ball bounced hard off the right pole and out of bounds. \nThe Hoosiers were a bit more fortunate in their first match, a 1-0 win on Friday. Against host team and No. 5-seed Michigan State, Wilmarth scored the only goal of the game off a cross in the box from senior Charley Traylor. Traylor sent the ball to the far end of the box where Wilmarth headed it into the lower corner of the goal. MSU goalkeeper Chris Austin nearly blocked the shot, but was a half-second too slow. \nDespite the frustrating end on Sunday, the weekend was still relatively successful for IU. Several Hoosiers garnered individual awards at the Big Ten banquet on Thursday evening. Juniors Chay Cain and Brad Ring and sophomores Ofori Sarkodie and Eric Alexander were named to the All-Big Ten first team. Junior Kevin Noschang and sophomore Kevin Alston were named to the second team, while Kelly and Rich Balchan made the roster for the All-Freshmen Team. Traylor was the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award for IU, while IU coach Mike Freitag was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. While recognizing the honor in this award, Freitag said it was less of a testament to him than a testament to his team. \n“When your team is in first place, you’re Coach of the Year,” Freitag said. “It’s more of a team award than an individual award. It really says something about the guys.” \nThe NCAA tournament is set to begin Nov. 23, and Ring said there are some things his team plans to do between now and then to prepare.\n“We need to learn to concentrate more,” Ring said. “We have to try to get the ball into the corner.”