IU soccer team receives No. 6 seed in NCAAs

Sitting at Yogi’s Grill and Bar, the IU men’s soccer team waited for more than its meal.

The Hoosiers waited for ESPN News to reveal the field of 48 for the NCAA Tournament.

After losing 1-0 in the Big Ten Tournament championship game to Michigan State, the Hoosiers will take on the winner of the first-round matchup between Saint Louis and Drake. The second-round match will mark IU’s first game back at Bill Armstrong Stadium since its 2-0 regular-season-finale victory against Northwestern on Nov. 7.

The game will be played at 7 p.m. Nov. 25.

The first-round bye will benefit the Hoosiers, giving them a week to practice, prepare for another tournament and allow injured players to heal. Having missed five games due to a pelvic injury, senior captain and midfielder Brad Ring hopes to compete next week.

“It’s getting better every day,” Ring said. “I can’t say for sure, but it’s getting better.”

Senior midfielder John Mellencamp said the week-long break might just give the coaches a opportunity to fit in some conditioning.

“They just told us we have a 7 a.m. run tomorrow, so it’s not too damn nice,” Mellencamp said jokingly. “Basically, it just means (the coaches) get to put a little more pain on us before the tournament starts.”

Despite winning three of their past four games, sophomore midfielder/forward Andy Adlard said the Hoosiers still need to improve on set pieces.

“We’ve been working on them constantly,” Adlard said. “Teams really don’t create chances against us unless it’s through a corner or a set piece or a foul we give them. I think if we stay good defensively on set pieces, I think we’ll be just fine.

With a win against Drake or Saint Louis, IU, a No. 6 seed, could face No. 11-seeded Michigan. The Hoosiers defeated the Wolverines 1-0 in the second round of the conference tournament Friday.

Michigan State, Ohio State and Northwestern are the other Big Ten teams that received bids.

IU coach Mike Freitag said it is difficult to determine what the NCAA took into account to determine the seeding.

“It’s a crapshoot sometimes,” Freitag said. “You don’t know what the committee looks at – strength of schedules sometimes are important, sometimes RPI. It’s a compliment to what the guys have done this year.”

Despite having two freshmen – forward Will Bruin and defender Tommy Meyer – part of the starting 11, Freitag said he has confidence in young players.

“You look at all the teams that made the tournament, we’ve played the majority of them,” Freitag said. “So they have experience.”

With the team clicking toward the climax of the season, Freitag said the players realize it is crucial to play well.

“You better be doing it now,” Freitag said. “This is do or die. Hopefully we’ll be ready to do.”