IU begins regular season in Billiken Classic versus old rival Saint Louis

Heading into the regular season, the Hoosiers were placed at the top of the Big Ten poll and 12th in the nation.

However, with the high ranking comes a target on the Hoosier’s backs for the entire season, IU Coach Todd Yeagley said.

“This program always has a target no matter what year it is,” he said. “That just comes with the territory. Whether we’re the underdog on paper or not, we’re going to get every team’s best, and it won’t be any different this weekend.”

In the Billiken Classic, the Hoosiers will face rival Saint Louis at 8 p.m. Friday. Indiana’s seven national championships is second only to Saint Louis’ 10.

The rivalry stems from other factors as well, Yeagley said.

“This program rivalry is definitely one of the top two,” Yeagley said. “Every alum and anyone who’s been around college soccer knows this rivalry. We’ve had a lot of great St. Louis players wear our jersey, so there is a lot of pride in line every time we play each other.”

The Billikens return 11 players, including nine starters from last year’s squad.

Leading scorer Robbi Kristo will  try to stir up trouble for the Hoosier defensive unit with the help of sophomore midfielder Raymond Lee.

Lee found the back of the net four times last season.

Senior midfielders Nick Maglasang and Michael Robson will lead the team from the midfield.

Robson was an honorable mention to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team after last season’s performance.

Last year, the Hoosiers defeated the Billikens 3-1 on Jerry Yeagley Field in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.

However, in 2007, the last time the Hoosiers played Saint Louis at Hermann Stadium, the Billikens came out on top 2-1.

After Saint Louis, IU will play Cincinnati at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Bearcats are coming off a two game shutout streak in preseason play.

The Bearcats return forward Cole DeNormandie and goalkeeper Taylor Hafling. DeNormandie notched seven goals and one assist last season. Hafling made five appearances, allowing 11 goals in 381 minutes.

The Hoosiers have a streak of their own heading into this game. IU has never been defeated by Cincinatti, going 11-0-0 all-time against the Bearcats.

Heading into this first weekend of regulation games, the Big Ten named sophomore forward Eriq Zavaleta, junior midfielder Jacob Bushue and junior midfielder Nikita Kotlov to the players to watch list for the season.

“Obviously, it’s a nice honor, but it doesn’t matter too much. ” Bushue said. “It’s like preseason rankings. We are going to come in with the same mentality to beat everyone and play as well as
we can.”

Kotlov said the Big Ten is very competitive.

“It feels good to be recognized for the past few seasons,” he said. “It’s obviously because of my teammates. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible.”