IU X'ed in preseason opener

Senior midfielder Daniel Kelly netted the Hoosiers’ lone goal with less than six minutes to play as IU narrowly avoided a shut out Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. IU lost to Xavier 2-1 in the their first exhibition game of the season.

“Tonight gave us a chance to look at a few different players and also a few different ways of playing,” IU coach Todd Yeagley said. “Certainly that performance was not one that was up to our standards in a lot of areas. The players know that and realize what is expected from them.”

Yeagley enters his first full season as coach of the Hoosiers after going 3-3 in Big Ten play at Wisconsin in 2009 — his only other season as a head coach.

IU experimented with various combinations of players to prepare for the year. In all, 15 players, including three freshmen, saw action.

“It was a tough, tough loss,” Kelly said. “We got a taste and don’t want it to happen again. But we are able to take from that.”

A combination of impressive saves by Xavier goalkeeper Justin Marshall and lack of preparation time with incoming freshmen and transfers — just four days of practice — produced the lackluster Hoosier performance.

“That’s why we do these games,” Yeagley said.

IU went 2-0-3 in the spring season under Yeagley, including a 2-0 win over the U-20 Mexican Youth National Team. The Hoosiers are ranked No. 21 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll.

Despite the loss, Kelly said there are plenty of positives yet to be taken from the early stages of this season.

“Besides giving away two horrendous, preventable goals, we have had a good preseason,” he said. “There are a lot of new faces and personalities. It’s been fun.”

Junior forward Will Bruin led the team with four shots on goal, two of which were denied by diving efforts from Marshall. In the second half, a sharp Bruin header clipped the crossbar and skipped high.

“In the second half I was pleased with the toughness and tenacity we came out with, but that has to be there from the start,” Yeagley said. “The players realize what standards are expected.”

Kelly’s late score, which came off a rebound with 5:50 to play, was the lone Hoosier goal.

“It came back to me off a shot or a cross, I took a touch and I tried to whip it in,” he said. “The keeper was a little off his line, so I put it over his head.”

Kelly’s putback from 35 yards out avoided the shutout, which would have continued a trend from last year.

In 2009, seven of IU’s 10 losses were shutouts. Two of them occurred in home contests.

The Hoosiers finish exhibition play with two games in Fort Wayne this weekend. IU plays Duke at 8:10 p.m. Friday and then faces Denver at noon Sunday.

Yeagley said the team will continue to do some tweaking while the season is still fresh at practice this week.

“We want to work on getting principles down and find player combos on the field,” he said. “It’s an ongoing evaluation.”