The rattling cage: soccer student section keeps games lively

Charlie Painchaud has never met Nik Vasich or Josh Vega. He is a year younger than the seniors and has never had the opportunity to share a conversation with them. They know nothing about each other and have no clue that each the other exists.

But as IU soccer fans, they hang out all the time.

Sunday will mark the ninth time this year the three will be together, each time in The Cage, a two-year-old student section designed to bring IU soccer fans together in close proximity.

“The same 15 or 20 people come with the drum and the flare and the loud voices every game,” Painchaud said. “The people in the middle are the hardcore fans. I don’t know any of them. I need to meet them.”

Maybe he is right.

Painchaud has a lot in common with Vasich and Vega and could probably get along quite nicely with the fellow soccer enthusiasts. Like Painchaud, Vasich and Vega — roommates since they started coming to IU soccer games their sophomore year — share friendships with players, study opposing teams’ rosters and heckle any visiting player within an earshot.

“Specifically the UCLA game, I know we got in one kid’s head,” Vasich said. “He was a big, tall dude and we started calling him ‘freak.’ He was pretty good the first time we saw him, but after that he seemed rattled and wasn’t doing anything. He was just playing terrible.”

Nearby in the same gated off student section at midfield with the same red scarf-wearing fans, Painchaud’s ritual is similar.

“The prerequisite is the roster,” he said. “Every game you research. The day of the game you go to the other team’s website, get their roster, look for funny last names, awkward heights and awkward hometowns. You do a little research before with the guys. You come prepared and then just start to memorize names in the first half.”

All three said the job of the cage is to rattle the opposition.

Whether it is during the starting lineups when the crowd screams “sucks” after each player is introduced, to pounding the boards along the sideline, to setting off smoke bombs, the fans said they have an important job.

“I think we’re very effective,” Vega said. “A lot of us have classes with the soccer players and the soccer players even tell us to keep cheering, keep screaming, keep singling out players on the other team, you know, get in their heads. It helps them a lot, you know?”

Junior forward Will Bruin said Vega is right, especially when the Hoosiers came back from down 2-0 to beat Northwestern on Oct. 31 for the Big Ten regular season title.

“They’re warriors,” Bruin said. “We feed off them. They get us up for the games and we just want to give them their money’s worth every time they come out. Without them, we could have gone down with our backs against the wall, but they raised us up and we rose to the occasion.”

Some taunting that comes from the cage — screaming, “It’s all your fault!” at the opposing goalkeeper after each IU goal — is more creative than others — yelling at players, “Scotty, why aren’t you at your brew house?” or “Oliver, I like your winery.”

There were 109 students in the cage at the Northwestern game, and while some chants and taunts are unmentionable, Painchaud said there is a line.

“I’ve gone on one player’s Facebook once and looked up personal information,” he said. “ But no sisters or girlfriends. I haven’t gone that far.”

Maybe Painchaud will meet Vega or Vasich on Sunday. But even if he does not, the three have worked together to help the team to a winning record at 4-3-1 at Bill Armstrong Stadium, including the ever-important Big Ten title.

Sunday, the fan base has the chance to help send the Hoosiers into the NCAA Tournament round of 16, just two wins from the program’s 18th College Cup.
“The Cage definitely has gotten the fans more involved and closer to the field,” Painchaud said. “Being closer to the players, I know everyone really loves that. Hopefully it’ll keep growing and growing.”

Vega said he agrees.

“We feel that given our team is one of the best programs in the nation, we’ve got to represent,” he said. “We want to cheer our team on so to have a student section like the Cage is a great thing for IU soccer.”