Stars align

Again clinging to a precarious 1-0 lead, in front of a significantly pro-Indiana crowd, IU’s eighth national championship was preserved by mere inches of a goalpost.

Georgetown’s best opportunity to tie the score came in the penultimate minute, as defender Tommy Muller’s header bounced off the post to senior goalkeeper Luis Soffner’s left. Soffner claimed the ball off one bounce, and the Hoosiers prevailed 1-0 to complete their quest for eight.

They won with defense.

IU finished atop the conference with Penn State, allowing 18 goals during the season. But because the Nittany Lions missed the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers played seven more games than Penn State, including five NCAA Tournament matches.

Soffner set a career high with 12 shutouts, including three in a row to conclude the tournament. Throughout the entire second half, he had Georgetown students talking to him from their seats 10 yards behind goal.

“We said it all along we had to be very good defensively,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said Dec. 9. “That is from front to back, and with Luis and his growth, what he’s given us is outstanding. He gave our team so much calm and composure and confidence.”

But the Hoosiers entered the tournament tentatively — they had lost three of five matches to end the season. They were in as the No. 16 seed.

In each of Yeagley’s first two seasons, the Hoosiers earned a first-round bye, won their second-round game and lost their Sweet 16 match to the team that went on to claim the national championship.

“You can always go back and look at things could’ve, should’ve happened,” Soffner said Nov. 13. “Right now, we’re at a point where we try to put everything in the past. We’re just more excited that we got a first-round bye.”

The Hoosiers cleared that hurdle with a 2-1 win at Notre Dame, avenging a loss earlier in the season.

“I’m proud of this team and the way we fought,” sophomore forward Eriq Zavaleta said. “We knew we had to play good to beat a good Notre Dame team. We knew it, came out and played one of the better games I’ve ever seen this team play.”

Three games later, IU celebrated winning it all in Hoover, Ala.

IU’s championship earned Division I Coach of the Year honors for Yeagley, as named by Soccer America. Leading a team and legacy rejuvenated by father and former Coach Jerry Yeagley, Todd said he appreciated the honor.

“This is a reflection of what the team was able to accomplish,” Todd Yeagley said Jan. 8. “It’s a program award.”

IU fans far outnumbered fans of the other three national semifinalists. Fans from Creighton, Maryland and Georgetown were largely lost in a sea of red, as Hoosier fans — the Hoosier Army — had made the trip to Hoover.

After the success, Zavaleta decided to skip his junior and senior seasons. On Jan. 17, the Seattle Sounders selected him 10th overall in the 2013 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

But IU still has great depth at forward, as sophomores Femi Hollinger-Janzen, Andrew Oliver, Richard Ballard and Kyle Sparks have opportunities to win the starting job.
On Jan. 3, IU announced the addition of sophomore midfielder Dylan Mares to help fill Zavaleta’s role.

The Hoosiers will also have to replace Soffner and senior defender Caleb Konstanski. Though both were drafted, Konstanski tweeted on Jan. 30 that he “hung up the boots.”

Nevertheless, the Hoosiers return all but three major contributors from last year’s team. The Twitter hashtag “Q49” has appeared early, signaling a clear quest to win a ninth national championship, a goal well within reach for the 2013-14 squad.