After beating No. 6 Washington in its final preseason match, the IU men’s soccer team is looking to build on its momentum when it faces No. 9 Georgetown Friday and No. 12 Marquette Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Both new and returning players say they are ready to get the season underway.
“It’s always the best feeling,” junior forward Andrew Oliver said. “Butterflies, nervous, anxious to get it going, but I think we’re all ready, we’re all excited to play together and work hard this year.”
Oliver and freshman defender Grant Lillard are expected to have significant roles on a team looking to return to national title contention.
“You come to Indiana and you hear about the history of the soccer program and what it means to wear the Indiana badge and represent the men’s soccer team,” Lillard said. “You come here wanting to win a national championship every single year.”
IU Coach Todd Yeagley said Georgetown will present a challenge for his team and that many experts say they are a favorite to go to the College Cup.
He said there is a strong chance the Hoyas won’t have a freshman step foot onto the field.
“Georgetown is a very technical team,” Yeagley said. “They’re balanced, they can possess it and build, and they can also find guys off the quick ball over the top. They have a very experienced goalie who has played in big games, and they’re a smart team.”
IU defeated Georgetown in the 2012 College Cup final to clinch the school’s eighth national championship.
Hoya goalie Tomas Gomez, who will start in the net Friday, also started in that game.
A main focus for IU this offseason has been to improve the defensive side of the ball and make a goal of getting more shutouts.
“Shutouts (will be the key for us),” Oliver said. “Goals will come for us. We have a great attacking squad, I think as long as our defense plays the way we can, we’ll be able to pull it out.”
Lillard, who will be playing in his first regular season game as a Hoosier, says he thinks both the Hoyas and the Golden Eagles will provide a good matchup and that scheduling strong opponents early on allows the team to know where they stand.
He is one of 10 freshmen on the team.
“I am super excited,” Lillard said. “I’ve been looking forward to college soccer ever since I committed. It’s been a lot of preparation and work, and this first game against Georgetown is ?going to be a great game. The whole team has been working hard to get ready for this game, and I’m just thrilled to be a part of Indiana soccer.”
Yeagley said his team has more players he can move around the field this season, especially on restarts, which will allow IU to score goals they might not have been able to score last year.
“I think we are going to manufacture goals in different ways, and that builds confidence and gets you wins and gets you on the right foot going forward,” Yeagley said.
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
“We’ve worked hard since the end of last year to prepare,” Yeagley said. “Our players that returned have worked their tails off all spring and summer. The time is now.”
