IU mens soccer set to defend tourney title

This year’s Big Ten Tournament might be a little bit different for the IU men’s soccer team, which enters the competition as the defending tournament champion and Big Ten regular season champion for a second straight year. \nIU will play at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Old College Field in East Lansing, Mich., against host Michigan State, which advanced to the semifinals after defeating Penn State on penalty kicks. The No. 1 seed Hoosiers received a first-round bye and are regarded as the favorite to repeat as tournament champions. \nThough there is some added pressure on the Hoosiers to repeat as tournament champions IU players know they’re the team to beat.\n“Being the defending champions puts more pressure on us to win,” junior midfielder Billy Weaver said. “But, we’re not afraid of anyone. We know that if we play to our potential, no one in the Big Ten can beat us.”\nThe Hoosiers defeated Michigan State 2-0 on Oct. 6 in Bloomington. Despite the earlier result, junior forward Kevin Noschang said it won’t affect their play.\n“We have a lot of confidence coming into this tournament,” Noschang said. “But we’re taking it one game at a time, and we’re not looking anyone over.”\nOne factor Michigan State has on its side is being the home team who will have a crowd behind them. But Michigan State is also coming off of a hard-fought, double-overtime game. Freitag said he hopes the tough game and extra 20 minutes of play for the Spartans will help his team come game time. \nThe odds seem to be stacked in the Hoosiers’ favor, but the same could be said about their season finale at Wisconsin: The Badgers entered the Nov. 4 game with a winless conference record against the undefeated Hoosiers, but the resulting tie left the Hoosiers in jeopardy of losing their spot as outright Big Ten champions.\nThis has been the Hoosiers’ staple all season – the squad has been walking a fine line between greatness and mediocrity, with great showings against some of the best teams in the nation and letdowns against lesser foes. Losses to teams like the University of Alabama at Birmingham and wins against the likes of UCLA, Michigan and others illustrate the Jekyll-and-Hyde persona this team has assumed at times.\nThe Hoosiers are embarking on a trek that could expose their true identity. The Big Ten Tournament will be full of top talent that gave the Hoosiers a run for their money en route to their undefeated Big Ten season. Noschang said the regular season means nothing at this point, and his team is focused squarely on the task in front of them.\nThough he knows IU has been tagged as one of the best teams in the Big Ten, IU coach Mike Freitag said his team is simply focused on completing the goals they set at the beginning of the season.\n“We’re out to win,” Freitag said. “We hope to win the Michigan State game tomorrow, the tournament, and then get ready for the NCAA. Winning the Big Ten and the tournament were some of our goals, and we’re 1-for-1, and hopefully we can go 2-for-2 tomorrow.”