Freshman forward Richard Ballard started his second consecutive game Wednesday against the University of Evansville. He nearly scored his first career goal in the 10th minute when his shot -- off a pass from sophomore forward Eriq Zavaleta -- was just wide right.
"He's really coming on," IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. "We like what we see from him."
On Oct. 22, this is what Yeagley said about why Ballard earned his first career start against Michigan.
"Richard's been training hard. He brings a lot of energy. He's very skillful, and he's been training well. We're trying to start the game against the complement of other platers that are on the field the way we get some early movement. He provides some of that.
"He seems to handle--put a player in the starting role versus a reserve role, they handle it differently. You only really know until you put 'em in that situation. We wanted to see psychologically he did.
"He did great. He looked like he's been out there for many a-games. That's a great sign that he handled the pressure of a start and performed well. We're very pleased with Richard. He continues to train like he is and play well, his minutes will continue to grow and help our team with more options in our attack."
Redshirt freshman Kyle Sparks, true freshmen Andrew Oliver and Femi Hollinger-Janzen have all seen time and earned starts at that midfield position this season.
Related:
My feature story on Ballard.
