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(01/11/05 6:10am)
The usual spring break staples of beaches, booze and bikinis need not apply to a small group of men who find their way down to Florida every March.\nInstead, the week is packed with talks of victory and nearly 500 miles worth of training. \nThat is spring break for a Little 500 rider.\nSpring break has become one of the most anticipated weeks of the year to most students, and that is one thing the riders have in common with the rest of the student population. Spring break falls just one week before Little 500 qualifying begins.\n¡°It¡¯s the last week you have time to put in really big hours,¡± said sophomore David Caughlin. ¡°It really catapults you into the actual race because that is only several weeks after (spring break).¡±\nCaughlin and the rest of the Cutters team prefer to use access to the track in Bloomington during the break to perfect exchanges and get a feel for the course. \nThe Cutters choose to head south for the winter rather than in the spring. The team spent its winter break in St. Augustine, Fla., preparing for second semester.\n¡°It makes us one big unit,¡± Caughlin said. ¡°It gets everyone¡¯s agendas and goals together.¡±\nJunior Joe Reitan and the rest of the Dodds House and Wright Cycling teams, prefer sunny Alligator Point, Fla. for the week of team unification.\n¡°It gives us time together so we can get to know each other better than on a level of strictly riding,¡± Reitan said. ¡°There¡¯s personal time, car time ©¤ we are basically living together for a week.¡±\nThe team plans to spend about five hours on their bikes every day, taking in the Florida landscape one pedal at a time.\nMany other teams realize the importance of spring break and take the same approach; Florida, Arizona and other southern destinations are littered with bike riders for one week in March.\n¡°Spring break is really about preparing mentally and physically for qualifying,¡± Reitan said. ¡°The weeks when you get back are spent working on the race.¡±\nSo while other college students relax on the beach watching little beads gather on their margarita glasses, the Little 500 riders will be gathering those little beads on their foreheads pumping out the final 20 miles.\n¡°It¡¯s a week where you can think about nothing but cycling,¡± Caughlin said.\n¨C Contact Sports Editor Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(12/17/04 8:31pm)
Breathe in.\nBring all that positive energy in.\nBreathe out. \nLet out all the negative energy.\nIU coach Mike Freitag led his troops into battle with a simple pregame exercise.\nBreathe in.\nTake in the moment. Senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly is staring University of California-Santa Barbara's Nate Boyden face-to-face with a national championship on the line.\nBecerra's foot strikes the ball, and time stands still. Nolly seems to float through the air to his left, when the ball hits his arms, deflects off the ground, and then gently lifts back into the air. It's right about here that things are brought back into full speed.\nBreathe out.\nThe emotion, the affection and the passion of IU soccer flood from every last Hoosier in the stadium and are brought to life in the form of 30 young men celebrating in the center of the field. Finally, after months of preparation and build-up, three IU seniors were able to address their team as champions -- again.\n"Coming in here we knew the hardest team to beat was ourselves," said senior Danny O'Rouke. "It shows so much character that we weathered the storm all game and came up with a victory. I am so proud of you guys. I'll be your brother for life, I love you. Now let's go back to Bloomington and celebrate."
(12/13/04 6:30am)
CARSON, Calif. -- Two-thousand miles for two games might not seem like an even trade off, but try telling that to Charlie Teeple, or any of the more than 200 Hoosier faithful fans in attendance for the weekend's matches.\nMore than anyone, try telling that to the IU pep band that even on the other end of the country, made its Hoosiers feel right at home.\n"The high that you get when you walk out of that locker room and (the band) is playing the fight song, it's indescribable," said junior forward Pat Yates.\nFrom students, to alumni, to family; everyone wanted to do their part in bringing a little bit of Bloomington all the way to California.\n"(The Hoosiers) had great support out in Bloomington," said 2001 IU alum John Koluder. "It shouldn't be any different here."\nWhen it comes to IU support, nobody embodies everything IU soccer like Teeple.\n"It's my retirement hobby," he said. "I retired in 1992 and I've seen virtually every game that Indiana has played, home or away, since then."\nThe over-80-year-old Teeple already has trips to New Mexico, Missouri and Michigan under his belt this season, as the only game he's missed was a game at Penn State. \nA trip to California in December wasn't just welcomed; it was routine.\nThe routine for another set of IU soccer fans often consisted of Green Day's "Basket Case," Dr. Dre's "Forgot About Dre," and of course, the IU fight song. That group is the IU pep band.\n"I think we make it feel like a home game," said senior tuba player Graham Keith. "That's what (former coach Jerry) Yeagley said last year. We make it feel like a home-field advantage."\nWhen Sunday's final game rolled around, the IU fans were thrown into a David versus Goliath type of situation. The couple hundred IU travelers had to square off against the couple thousand University of California-Santa Barbara fans.\nDespite being overwhelmed for most of the match, only one chant was necessary at the end of the day:\n"Scoooreboard. Scoooreboard. Scoooreboard."\nAll chants aside, just the presence of a little crimson in a sea of yellow and blue made all the difference for the Hoosiers.\n"Our fans this year have been great throughout the whole year at home," said IU coach Mike Freitag. "The commitment to come out here from the fans just shows how much they love this team."\nLast year, IU fans had the benefit of only needing a three-hour drive to catch the national championship in Columbus, Ohio. A little more time was needed to make it to the 2004 College Cup, but the thought of California in December provided that extra incentive.\n"Last year, it was 20 degrees, and it got down to negative 15 with the wind chill," said Zach Zayner, brother of sophomore back Jed Zayner. "I was there both games, and it was horrible."\nThe temperature never got lower than 50 degrees for this year's cup.\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(12/13/04 6:30am)
CARSON, Calif. -- Pure emptiness.\nThat's what shot through Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski when the clock struck 48 seconds in the second overtime of Friday's semifinal match.\nPure excitement.\nThat's what overcame sophomore midfielder John Michael Hayden when the clock struck 48 seconds and he witnessed his header tickle the back of the net.\nIn one fleeting moment, two opposing emotions took control over two opposing teams. Alongside those 48 seconds left on the clock, burning a hole in the Maryland squad that had fought so hard, the scoreboard read: IU-3, Maryland-2. \nIt took 109 minutes and 12 seconds to decide, but when the IU men's soccer team's semifinal match against Maryland was finally finished, the Hoosiers had successfully secured their place in the championship game for the second year in a row.\n"That was two outstanding programs and two outstanding teams who left it all out on the field," said IU coach Mike Freitag. "I don't think the crowd can ask for anything more."\nExcitement was nowhere to be found at halftime when the Hoosiers entered the locker room down 1-0. Maryland's Jason Garey set the team record for points in a season when he deflected a pass from Abe Thompson past a defenseless senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly. \nThe score could have very well been far worse, and Garey could have moved well past his record mark had two close attempts in the final 10 minutes of the half gone in. The best opportunity being when Garey had a fast break and chipped a ball over an approaching Nolly, only to watch it roll just a few feet wide of the far post.\n"I thought we were tentative in the first half," Freitag said. "We didn't go and make things happen. We played alright but we really weren't getting after it."\nThe Hoosiers came out in the second half as though the past 45 minutes had been a distant memory. Quickly jumping out as the aggressor, junior midfielder Brian Plotkin found himself standing behind a free-kick from 20 yards out after drawing the whistle himself on the previous play.\nPlotkin struck a low ball that found its way through the Maryland wall and directly into the lower left hand corner of the net. The last goal Plotkin had scored was against Michigan on Oct. 10.\n"Drew Moor's dad kept asking me when I was going to get a goal," Plotkin said. "I made sure to find him right after the game."\nNearly 20 minutes later junior forward Mike Ambersley ended a scoring drought of his own when he received a pass from senior midfielder Danny O'Rourke, shook his defender and drilled a shot to the far side-netting.\n"That was a huge weight off my shoulders," Ambersley said. "I think I put a little too much pressure on myself this year to come back and make a big impact, even though things weren't going my way for a while, this makes up for it."\nThe 2-1 lead for IU stood until the 80th minute when Maryland had its best opportunity of the second half. Michael Dello-Russo delivered a corner kick that found the head of Maryland's Maurice Edu. The leaping header by Edu then hit paydirt in the upper right-hand corner of IU's net.\n"After that goal nobody got down," Plotkin said. "Nobody said a word about that goal, we just got the ball down and started back up."\nWith the game tied and the Hoosiers needing a hero, a familiar face stepped up to the challenge. IU's Hayden clinched five straight games with winning goals earlier in the season, so when O'Rourke lobbed a ball up for grabs and only seconds remaining on the clock, Hayden was once again there to answer the call.\n"I want this national championship more than anything," O'Rourke said. "I just tried to lead by example tonight and the guys responded." \n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu
(12/12/04 10:12pm)
CARSON, Calif. - Pure emptiness.\nThat's what shot through Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski when the clock struck 48 seconds in the second overtime of Friday's semifinal match.\nPure excitement.\nThat's what overcame sophomore midfielder John Michael Hayden when the clock struck 48 seconds and he witnessed his header tickle the back of the net.\nIn one fleeting moment, two opposing emotions took control over too opposing teams. Along side those 48 seconds left on the clock, burning a hole in the Maryland squad that had fought so hard, the scoreboard read: IU-3, Maryland-2. \nIt took 109 minutes and 12 seconds to decide, but when IU's semifinal match against Maryland was finally over, they had successfully secured their place in the championship game for the second year in a row.\n"That was two outstanding programs and two outstanding teams who left it all out on the field," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "I don't think the crowd can ask for anything more."\nExcitement was nowhere to be found at halftime when the Hoosiers entered the locker room down 1-0. Maryland's Jason Garey set the team record for points in a season when he deflected a pass from Abe Thompson past a defenseless senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly. \nThe score could have very well been far worse, and Garey could have moved well past his record mark had two close attempts in the final ten minutes of the half gone in. The best opportunity being when Garey had a fast break and chipped a ball over an approaching Nolly, only to watch it roll just a few feet wide of the far post.\n"I thought we were tentative in the first half," Freitag said. "We didn't go and make things happen. We played alright but we really weren't getting after it."\nThe Hoosiers came out in the second half as though the past 45 minutes had been a distant memory. Quickly jumping out as the aggressor, junior midfielder Brian Plotkin found himself standing behind a free-kick from 20 yards out after drawing the whistle himself on the previous play.\nPlotkin struck a low ball that found its way through the Maryland wall and directly into the lower left hand corner of the net. The last goal Plotkin had scored was against Michigan on Oct. 10.\n"Drew Moor's dad kept asking me when I was going to get a goal," Plotkin said. "I made sure to find him right after the game."\nNearly 20 minutes later junior forward Mike Ambersley ended a scoring drought of his own when he received a pass from senior midfielder Danny O'Rourke, shook his defender, and drilled a shot to the far side-netting.\n"That was a huge weight off my shoulders," Ambersley said. "I think I put a little too much pressure on myself this year to come back and make a big impact, even though things weren't going my way for a while, this makes up for it."\nThe 2-1 lead for IU stood until the 80th minute when Maryland had their best opportunity of the second half. Michael Dello-Russo delivered a corner kick that found the head of Maryland's Maurice Edu. The leaping header by Edu than hit pay dirt in the upper right-hand corner of IU's net.\n"After that goal nobody got down," Plotkin said. "Nobody said a word about that goal, we just got the ball down and started back up."\nWith the game tied and the Hoosiers needing a hero, a familiar face stepped up to the challenge. IU's Hayden clinched five-straight games with winning goals earlier in the season, so when O'Rourke lobbed a ball up for grabs and only seconds remaining on the clock, Hayden was once again there to answer the call.\n"I want this national championship more than anything," O'Rourke said. "I just tried to lead by example tonight and the guys responded"
(12/10/04 5:34am)
CARSON, Calif. -- When the Missouri Athletic Club selected the 15 best players in the country, only three teams were fortunate enough to have two players crack that list.\nToday, two of those three teams will battle for a right to play in Sunday's National Championship, and the battle between the Hermann Trophy candidates will take center stage.\n"It's a great, great match up," said Maryland Coach Sasho Cirovski. "You've got two Hermann Trophy candidates in the back line for IU, and two Hermann Trophy candidates in the front line for Maryland -- something's got to give."\nNo. 3 seeded Maryland's forwards Jason Garey and Abe Thompson have accounted for 53 percent of the Terapins' goals this season, while IU senior Danny O'Rourke and junior Drew Moor have anchored a defense that ranks sixth in the nation in goals against.\n"With two forwards that play so organized we just have to stay organized ourselves," Moor said. "Going with three in the back is tough to do sometimes, but we have Danny back there helping us out."\nTulsa's Ryan Pore and Michigan's Knox Cameron rank among the top scoring threats in the country, but both were kept in check by the IU defense. \nMichigan and Tulsa were just two steps among the Hoosier's three straight tourney shutouts. Nonetheadfless, Maryland's duo still ranks above any seen this season, IU coach Mike Freitag said.\nMaryland's Thompson was actually recruited by the Hoosiers before he decided to become a Terapin. Freitag described him as a big, strong force -- "a handfull."\nThough Thompson stands as the senior leader and co-captain, Garey has put up the bigger numbers. 21 goals, nine assists and 51 total points places Garey as one of the statistical leaders of the 2004 soccer season, or a "force to be reckoned with," Freitag said.\nHis output landed him on the All-ACC squad along with his counterpart Thompson.\n"I think it's going to be a battle tomorrow," O'Rourke said. "We watched a bunch of film ... and they don't really work the ball, they try to get it up to their forwards as quickly as possible."\nIU's defense has certainly heard its fair share of praise and recognition from around the country, but two more stellar performances are still needed.\n"If we can cut off those two forwards, like we did with (Todd) Goddard and Pore of Tulsa, I think we'll be fine."\n-- Contact Sports Editor Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(12/09/04 5:39am)
Look at a large hole in the ground and picture a towering structure composed of limestone and genius.\nLook at an old neighborhood and some buildings that have seen better days and picture the IU students of 2020 hustling to their classes in the new technological hub of campus.\nLook at IU Architect Robert Meadows and picture the man who turns it all into a reality.\nIn Meadows, one sees the man who holds the structural future of IU's campus in his hands, but he has turned his job into so much more than that. He's not just a man who decides what a building will look like, how it can be made and where it will go; he's also an artist.
(12/06/04 4:39am)
A cool December afternoon set the stage\nThe cameras rolled.\nSeniors Jay Nolly, Danny O'Rourke and Greg Badger stepped into the starring roles.\nAnd even though the entire story was far from finished, this scene ended in a fashion far beyond any of the dreams for the three stars with the heroes riding off into the sunset − of Carson, Calif -- and into the College Cup.\nWin or lose, Sunday's match-up against Tulsa would be the final home game for IU's three senior leaders. And with a goal, an assist and a shutout between them, they made sure to go out on top.\n"This was the game I wanted to see for them," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "It was perfect."\nThe 4-0 explosion from the Hoosiers was packed rich with storylines fitting for the Hoosiers storybook type season. Sophomore forward Jacob Peterson scored his first and second goals in more than a month after scoring eight in the first part of the season. \nYet, another unlikely hero in the form of junior midfielder Jordan Chirico broke the tie in the second half with only his second goal of the year. But in the end, it was midfielder O'Rourke's exit from the field that had the 3,500 plus in attendance on their feet, and the 10 to 20 in the front row bowing and screaming that they "weren't worthy."\n"On the field I wasn't thinking that it's my last game," O'Rourke said. "Because, it sounds cliché, but I play every game like it's my last. But when I came off the field ... the emotions came over me. When I saw the tears on the coaches' eyes, a little emotion just came over me too."\nFor goalkeeper Nolly, the story was one told many times before -- a shutout. It was Nolly's third straight shutout of the postseason, and his eleventh on the year. On paper, the game wasn't much different than any of the others in his string of more than 5,300 minutes played in a row. But that's just on paper.\n"The first game I saw here as a player," Nolly said, "all the way around the field the seats were just packed. I just thought, 'I want to play in front of this crowd some time,' and that was the feeling I got today. Just with how loud they are and how many people came."\nTo fully complete the Hollywood plot line, someone had to take on that role of the unlikely hero, and the senior forward Badger was proud to take the part.\nBadger took the field in the second half with the game already well in hand at 3-0. But in the 66th minute, Badger's typically unselfish play ended up paying off big. Passing off an opportunity in front of the net led to junior forward Pat Yates' shot being deflected and the ball being left sitting on the goal line. That's when Badger stepped up and made his final game at Bill Armstrong Stadium that much more memorable.\n"You come to practice and you know you're most likely not going to get in the game," Freitag said. "But you come out and you work so hard, and Greg Badger has done that for us during his time here. I told him before the game that he'd probably see some time today because he earned it, and he earned the goal."\nSo the story ended with two games left to be played before a second straight title can be won, but the final leg of their career at home couldn't have been sweeter. But it was the producer of this story, former IU coach Jerry Yeagley, who had the final say. \n"It's a great class," he said. "A great group, but more importantly they're great individuals. I couldn't be any happier for all of them."\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(12/01/04 5:44am)
Last season, then-freshman midfielder Josh Tudela waited until just the right moment for the first goal of his college career.\nThis season, soaphomore Tudela waited until just the right moment for the second goal of his college career.\nLast year it was a postseason game against Kentucky; this year the opponent was Boston College. But regardless of the opponent or the player, IU's recent postseason history has been marked by supposed "role players" stepping up big when it mattered most.\n"I think the key to IU soccer over the years has been players who do play roles and those players that maybe don't get the accolades," said IU coach Mike Freitag. "Those players are the heart, they make us better everyday in practice, and they know what it takes."\nTudela's goal came in the first half of a 1-0 win against the Eagles Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Fellow sophomore forward Kevin Robson sprung the Hoosiers into the third round of the tourney with a goal in the 86th minute of IU's first round match against Michigan.\n"Basically whenever it is tourney time, it's lose or die" Tudela said. "So it is time to step up and everyone has to contribute. It was my time to get my goal, and I was fortunate enough to be there and put it in."\nLast year Tudela and then fellow freshman forward Jacob Peterson each hit pay dirt in big postseason games after much smaller contributions during the regular season. This year, Tudela and Robson have stepped up again to bring some of IU's role players into the spotlight.\n"All season, coach has been making us stay positive and we just keep working hard as role players," Robson said. "We know our time will come, and coach is going to give us our opportunity to shine. We have to step up and do that once our time comes."\nAll season, IU has had to face maybe its toughest opponent every Wednesday in practice -- themselves.\nQuite often IU's practices are harder than their games, Freitag said, and the key reason has been the quality of the Hoosiers second string players. \n"There have been times during the season where you feel like you should be out there," Robson said. "But when you're at a school like this, you've got 11 great players on the field. You've got to step up and make sure when your time comes you are ready."\nFreitag said that when teams decide to focus more on a few specific threats, the other players rise to the occasion and fill in. This has often been the case in the postseason.\n"Everyone knows that if they don't step up, we're going to be going home, and that's not what IU is all about," Tudela said. "IU soccer is about making it to the national championship and winning."\nThe Hoosiers next welcome Tulsa into town for the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. The game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\n-- Contact staff writer Brian \nJanosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(11/29/04 5:31am)
On one hand, IU President Adam Herbert hopes to have a new chancellor selected by the end of the school year. On the other hand, Herbert hopes the new chancellor will remind him of the interim one, Ken Gros Louis.\nA selection committee that will take on the task of finding, interviewing and choosing who it wants to recommend to become the next chancellor and vice president of academic affairs at IU should be completed in the next week.\nThe committee should be comprised of 12 faculty members, two students, two staff members, a trustee and a vice president, Gros Louis said. Herbert said he hoped for the committee to be fully appointed a week after Thanksgiving break and for the first advertisements about the position to go out early in the spring semester.\n"My hope is to have a new officer of the University designated some point during the spring term, with that individual beginning their duty in the fall," Herbert said.\nThe first step in the whole process was for Gros Louis to present Herbert with a complete job description of his role in the University. The job description, which was completed several weeks ago, was the last of Gros Louis' involvement with selecting his predecessor, but his aid to the University has been far greater in his year long interim term, Herbert said. \n"I've had the opportunity of serving as a university president or a chancellor since 1989," Herbert said. "And I've enjoyed working with Ken Gros Louis more than I have anyone else. He is so knowledgeable of this campus and he understands the traditions of the University. He understands the politics and has been extremely valuable to me."\nStep two of the hiring process has been formulating a committee that touches on every aspect of the University. It has been the responsibility of the Bloomington Faculty Council and its president, Dave Daleke, to submit names of the nominees for the 12 faculty spots on the committee.\n"The goal in selecting faculty is to try and place people who have a broad knowledge of the University and what I would take to fill the position," Daleke said. \nDaleke said the committee will look over internal and external candidates for the job and most likely hire a search firm for assistance with the external candidates. The committee would then cut the list down to a reasonable number.\nHerbert also said the committee will hold one or more public sessions to get feedback from the rest of the campus community.\nThough Herbert will seek assistance from a selection committee, he already has the perfect model for his dreams of the new IU vice president and chancellor.\n"In a sense, if I could find someone exactly like (Gros Louis) it would be a wonderful thing," Herbert said. "Certainly for the campus and as a president, it would make a big difference."\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(11/22/04 5:09am)
With Thanksgiving break right around the corner, students are beginning to depart campus for their holiday destinations. IU men's soccer coach Mike Freitag hopes students can wait until after Tuesday night's NCAA Tournament second round game against Michigan to go home. \n"That's one thing I would like to encourage, for students to maybe hold off until after the game before they drive home." Frietag said. "That would help our cause."\nMichigan's defeat of the University of Akron Friday night means IU will face its second straight Big Ten rematch. Michigan was able to defeat Akron 2-1 without the services of senior forward Mychal Turpin, who will be returning to play against the Hoosiers. IU defeated Michigan 2-1 at home earlier this season.\nThe Hoosiers have only played two games in the entire month of November, and one game in the past 19 days. To make matters worse, that game was a loss in the Big Ten tournament to Michigan State, so the team's momentum certainly doesn't compare to last season's nine-game winning streak heading into the NCAA tournament.\n"Once tourney time comes around, all the results from the season don't matter," junior midfielder Jordan Chirico said. "We worked hard to get the No. 2 seed and now we're not focusing on anything that happened during the season. We're just looking to the next game."\nIU had another long week of practice, and tried to stay in game shape despite the extended time off. Finishing, conditioning and even penalty kicks have been focuses for the long week of practices, but the most important element all season has been the scrimmages between IU's first and second teams.\n"I think they are biting at the bit to play somebody else," Freitag said. "This damn second team knows our team inside and out, and gives us games every time -- for two reasons, they know our team and they're a good team. I think they could have made it to the tourney."\nThe team was without sophomore forward Jacob Peterson for several days as he joined the under-20 U.S. national team for a weekend match. But Peterson returned to the team Saturday.\nFor the three seniors on the team, the potential for each remaining game being their last constantly looms, but goalkeeper Jay Nolly and midfielder Danny O'Rourke have both made it a priority to keep their mind off that thought.\n"It's not even on my mind," O'Rourke said. "I don't expect to end my career at Bill Armstrong Stadium, I'd rather end it in sunny California."\nThe defending national champions play host to the Wolverines at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Student tickets cost $3 with a valid student ID and adult tickets cost $7. Parking will be available at Gate 12 on the north side of Assembly Hall, because of a coinciding IU basketball game. \n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(11/17/04 4:32am)
Despite a 2-1 loss in the Big Ten tournament last week, heads remained high after the announcement the IU men's soccer team would be seeded No. 2 in the NCAA tournament. Much of the reason for enthusiasm among the Hoosiers was the knowledge that their tournament fate lies in the hands of five men who have been there before -- the defense.\nWith seniors Jay Nolly and Danny O'Rourke, junior Drew Moor and sophomores Julian Dieterle and Jed Zayner, every IU defender knows exactly what is expected of him come crunch time.\n"It's a lot of pressure on the defense's shoulders, but we know how it is from last year," Zayner said. "I think we'll take it moment by moment, and we won't let anybody get through. Just like no shots in our scrimmage (Sunday) against our second team and no shots against IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, no shots for the whole tournament."\nThough not allowing a single shot throughout the tournament may be a tall task, the Hoosiers have certainly excelled in minimizing opportunities for opposing teams this season. IU has 200 more shots than its opponents this season and has nearly three times as many shots on goal.\n"That's the way the Indiana teams have always done well," Moor said. "They've always had a real strong defensive unit, and it shouldn't be any different with (us). We've been with each other for almost two years now so it makes things that much easier."
(11/12/04 5:46am)
Seven. Seven deadly sins, seven days in a week. Seven: the name stolen from George Costanza.\nSeven is also the number of games that lies between the IU men's soccer team and a successful defense of last year's NCAA Championship season. The Hoosiers will begin that defense at 11:30 a.m. today against Michigan State in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich.\n"I feel like I should have seven more games left in my year," said senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly. "I don't want to look anything shorter than that."\nThe Hoosiers will start the Big Ten tournament the same way they started their Big Ten regular season schedule -- in Michigan -- against the Spartans of Michigan State. And after beating the Spartans 3-1 on a hat trick from sophomore forward Jacob Peterson, they hope to mirror the results, as well.\n"I think we're looking good," Peterson said, "but anything can happen during the tourney. We'll just have to hope for the best."\nIU was able to rest up and get back to basics with the team's longest break in scheduling since the beginning of the season. The Hoosiers' last match came nearly a week and a half ago against IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, a 4-0 victory for the cream and crimson. \n"I think we just tried to make training fairly competitive and made the guys work," said IU coach Mike Freitag. "During the season, you only have so much time because you've got to ease off for games, and when you get done with a game, you don't want them working too hard the next day. So we were able to get in several good sessions."\nOne of the primary focuses for the extended break was getting the team back to preseason physical shape and stamina, something achieved with extended practices and training sessions in the days before and after last weekend, Peterson said.\nIU also looked to iron out its final kinks, as even the slightest mistake could spell a shortened season from this point out.\n"With the games right on top of each other during the season, it's hard to work some things in because you are constantly traveling and stuff," said sophomore back Julian Dieterle. "We are just really sharpening up to get ready for the big push."\nIU faces the challenge of squaring off against opponents who have already seen them before. Having already played every Big Ten team, the approaches and styles of each team will be no surprise to anyone.\n"They will definitely be closer games because they know your tendencies and they know what to expect," Dieterle said.\nLast season the Hoosiers entered the tourney on the heels of a nine-game winning streak and continued riding that streak right through to the championship match. This season IU has won five straight, but the real difference between this year and last has come mentally.\n"I think we are just as strong (as last year)," Peterson said, "but it's the mental part that we have to get taken care of."\nIU will play Michigan State in the Big Ten semifinal and then either Northwestern, Ohio State or Michigan in the finals depending on how things shake out. The Big Ten winner then receives an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.\n"We have to focus on ourselves," Freitag said. "I'm not one who worries too much about the opponent. We are a team that, if we are playing our best, we can beat anybody. So I just want us to be sharp and do everything we can. We can't control the other team, but we can control ourselves."\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(11/11/04 5:16am)
Bob Dylan once sang that "the times they are a-changin'," and a lot of people stood up and tried to stop it. My aunt's high school went so far as to ban that very song from its hallways. Nonetheless, the times they did a-change, and we look back at them now as some of the most socially productive years of our country.\nWhich brings us to the present -- a time when Dylan has changed his tune considerably. Some might say it's because of his age, others look to drugs, but me? I just think there's nothing good to write about anymore. \nFrankly, the times they aren't a-changin' ... but why?\nThe talk is there. "Moving forward" this and "strongest nation" that. Yet we continue to stand still and come across as anything but leaders of the free world to countless other nations. But once again, why?\nHad you listened around campus in the days before and after the Nov. 2 election, you would have heard the answer. Even among a cast of thousands of the nation's most liberal citizens, you heard one word resonating -- fear.\nIf you want the answer, you'll have to find the answer as to why 11 states resoundingly said no to the rights of gay Americans to be married, the answer as to what swung Ohio and the election in George W. Bush's direction, and the answer as to why the times simply aren't a-changin'. \nFear. And "afraid" doesn't rank too highly on the list of leadership qualities. It's obvious that we stand, right now, as a nation divided. Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals -- call them what you will. The fact of the matter is people are split, and no president should sit in office with half the nation looking up realtors in Canada. \nBut the nation does have one unifying quality, and it's the same thing that brought the nation together during Bush's last term in office. Everyone is afraid. The last time we saw a nation this divided, it took four crashing airplanes and two falling buildings to once again create a nation that was indivisible. So what's it going to take this time?\nI'm afraid to find out, but I guess that just makes me another average American. When we lean on fear, or the exit poll term "moral values," we stifle what this country is supposed to be all about -- progress. We prevent change. We hold back. Success could be looming right around the corner, but we are all too focused on the possibility that someone could be waiting for us around that corner ready to beat us up and take our money. \nOhio churches rallied over 400,000 people together to support an amendment that banned gay marriages because they were afraid of what might happen. You want your election? There it is right there, disguised in a mask of "moral values." \nSo, Democrats, don't be pissed off. Just as much as you are afraid of Bush, there is an extra 3 percent of the country out there more afraid than you. When I watched the election results pour in, all I could see was a nation afraid. A nation more focused on avoiding disaster than achieving greatness. A nation that talked about moving forward but refusing to change, and it's pretty hard to move forward while refusing to change positions. \nI guess the rest of America just had the wrong Dylan track playing on Election Day. Everyone was so busy worrying about when that hard rain's a-gonna fall, that it may be a long time before we see anything a-changin' again.
(11/04/04 5:21am)
The stat books will mark Wednesday night's men's soccer game as senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly's eighth shutout of the season, but the reality is that he barely even needed to show up.\nIU dominated in-state rival IUPUI in every sense of the word, holding the Jaguars without a shot for the entire 90 minutes.\n"I'm there to maybe make one or two saves, but it wasn't there tonight" Nolly said. "But I'm happy to take the shutout."\nNot only did the Hoosier backs shutdown IUPUI defensively, but they made their presence known on the other side of the field, netting three goals. Sophomore Julian Dieterle scored first just four minutes into the game. Junior Drew Moor was second with a goal in the first minute of the second half, and freshman Greg Stevning scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the 77th minute to put IU up 4-0.\n"I don't have a doubt that (our backs) are the best four in the country if we come to play every night," senior back Danny O'Rourke said. "And to have three of the backs step up and get a goal is huge."\nAll four of the Hoosiers' goals came off corner kicks Wednesday night as the team's 16 corner kick attempts were only four away from the all-time record set in 1983. Wednesday's performance brought the team's total to 115 corners on the season, many of which have had similar results -- goals by backs.\n"Restarts are very important," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "Especially when you come to this time of year because you start playing teams that defend better and better during the regular run of play so you hope for the opportunity to have a set play and execute it well. And tonight I thought we executed pretty well."\nSophomore John Michael Hayden continued his hot streak with his sixth goal in seven games to go along with his two assists on the night. Hayden scored when sophomore forward Kevin Robson took a quick corner and hit Hayden at the top corner of the 18-yard box. Hayden then drilled a shot into the lower right corner of the net.\nDieterle and Stevning's goals both came from similar quick corners that caught IUPUI off guard and resulted in goals. But perhaps the prettiest goal of the night came from the lone, successful regular corner attempt.\nHayden drilled a line-drive corner kick to the near-side bar that was flicked up into the air by junior forward Mike Ambersley. The ball came down at the far bar where Moor was lying in wait to head the ball home.\nWith about 15 minutes remaining in the game, and the Hoosiers already up by three, Freitag opened the flood gates and gave the rest of the team a chance to see some playing time in the final regular season game. \n"In practice, everyone works their heart out," senior Greg Badger said. "These guys work their heart out to make the starting team better so it's nice to get them into the game, get them playing time and get them chances to score."\nWednesday night marked senior night where O'Rourke, Nolly and Badger were all honored for their four years spent with the team. Though tournament play still remains, it was the last regular season match for all three players.\n"After four years there are so many memories," O'Rourke said. "I'll probably go home and sit in bed tonight and think about it. It's been a good four years, but it's not over yet."\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(11/01/04 4:37am)
Being too late with an assignment often results in a slap on the wrist or maybe a couple percentage points taken off a student's final grade.\nBut when sophomore Erik Styacich was told he was too late, he might have decided the 2004 presidential election.\nStyacich is from Ohio, a state that is completely deadlocked, according to an average of all polls from Oct. 20 through 30 listed on the Real Clear Politics Web site. But voters not taken into account by the polls are those who will vote absentee.\nMany of IU's students call Ohio home, and contrasted to the all but sealed fate of Indiana's electoral votes, they feel they can make a real difference voting back home.\n"There's a definite impact," said Ohio native and IU senior Marc Magill. "The fact that Ohio is such a swing state it makes your vote count even more. Democrats in Indiana lose value because you know you already lost and you want your vote to make a difference. That's what elections are all about."\nOhio, Florida and Pennsylvania are predicted to be the three crucial states in Tuesday's election with 68 electoral votes riding on their fates. Between those three states, none is closer than Ohio according to the RCP poll average.\nIn the 2000 election Florida was decided by 537 votes, and some Ohio counties are already expecting upwards of 100,000 absentee votes. The 2004 election could very well be won or lost by the absentee voters of Ohio.\n"For those students whose parents live in Indianapolis and they go to school in Ohio," said Political Science Professor Mike Wagner. "It makes no sense for them to vote absentee because we know how it's going to end in Indiana. We don't know how it's going to end in Ohio."\nNeither candidate has been shy about the importance of Ohio as both spent much of their final weeks in the state. As recently as Sunday, Bush spoke in Cincinnati in hopes of gaining the final edge. \nThe real X-factor behind student absentee voting is the pure hassle the entire process provides. Absentee voters need to call their home city, have a form sent to them, fill out the form, send that in, then wait to receive their ballot, fill it out, mail it, all several weeks before Nov. 2 even rolls around. \n"It's probably easier to vote here," IU College Democrats Vice-President and senior Peter Cheun said. "So anyone who votes absentee in their home state would really have to want to."\nStudents have poor enough voter turnout as it is, let alone taking the time to vote absentee. But this year's election is different, Wagner said. There appears to be a much larger interest and an influx of student voters could very well affect the outcome of a race, especially in a state like Ohio.\nGranted, when Styacich lagged a little bit with a homework assignment, he may have known it would affect the next seven weeks of his class. \nBut with Ohio standing as close as it is, lagging on that absentee ballot may affect the next four years of his life.\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(10/28/04 6:10am)
The scoreboard at Bill Armstrong Stadium looked out of place Wednesday night by posting numbers more suitable for a football game when IU (11-3-1) beat Louisville 2-0.\nIU mounted 30 shots, forced 13 corner kicks and required Louisville goalkeeper Tyler Wilcox to make a career high 10 saves.\nIU senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly could have taken the night off, only having to make one save to post a shutout.\n"I never felt threatened by them," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "I knew sooner or later we would get another (goal). I thought we would (get) another one and another one, but that didn't happen."\nFor the fifth time in six games, IU sophomore midfielder John Michael Hayden scored a game-winning goal, and for the second time in two weeks it came on an own goal by the opposition. Hayden sent a corner kick just in front of Louisville's crossbar where Wilcox tried to grab it but fell into his own goal. Hayden was credited with the goal.\nAfter not scoring in the Hoosiers' first 10 games, Hayden has become the team's second leading goal scorer in just six games, with five goals this season.\n"That first goal against Michigan was a confidence booster," he said. "I realized I can go to goal and I can actually put them away. Just from a standpoint of confidence I've gone up and that's what's helped me."\nHayden scored the first goal of his collegiate career against University of California at Los Angeles in the NCAA semifinals last year and has suddenly shifted to one of IU's biggest offensive threats.\n"In high school, I went on a streak where I had a hat trick in four games, but that was high school," Hayden said. "That was nothing compared to right now."\nThe Hoosiers' second goal came when junior midfielder Pat Yates played give-and-go with fellow junior midfielder Brian Plotkin. Plotkin hit Yates streaking up the middle and Yates finished with a low shot to the bottom right corner of the net.\n"I'd say a lot of guys on the team are hitting (their peak)," Yates said. "It's kind of the end of the season and like coach says, this is when you see who's going to step up and who's not."\nThe goal was Yates' second of the season after scoring last week against Butler.\nSophomore back Julian Dieterle was pulled last minute to rest his ailing knee and freshman Greg Stevning took his place.\nIU has two more games left in their regular season schedule before they head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Big Ten tournament. The team will look to iron out the final kinks before reaching the NCAA tournament.\n"Our finishing has to be better," Freitag said. "When you create those chances that we did, you've got to put them away. That's something we'll keep on stressing the rest of the way out."\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(10/21/04 6:21am)
The School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation has effectively placed a ban on all backpacks and other materials not required for a class in any space that is used for physical activity.\nAn activity safety space policy has been in place for several years, but with the recent lack of enforcement from the school's associate instructors, HPER is cracking down.\nHPER staff members visited all affected classes Wednesday, telling students that if bags are found in the future they will be taken and placed into the school's lost and found. The policy applies to Recreational Sports activities in the HPER as well.\nThe HPER will require students to keep their bags in day storage lockers or in the locker room. But forcing students to use the lockers may end up causing "operation problems," Martial Arts Coordinator Patrick Kelly said, as time may be lost from classes while students find a locker. Several students also questioned the availability of lockers at peak class times. The HPER features more than 300 day storage lockers.\n"Students bring in bags on a daily basis," Kelly said. "I'm not sure if they're a safety hazard, but I can see why people would be concerned about theft."\nDirector of Programs Services and Facilities Larry Patrick cited three primary reasons for the implementation: safety, theft and upkeep. \nThough Patrick said no student has been severely hurt because of bags or other foreign objects, he said liability is always an issue. Patrick also cited arrests made at the HPER building involving students walking around with garbage bags collecting anything of value they choose. Leather coats, wallets and other items have all been reported stolen from the HPER in the past, sometimes amounting to more than $400 dollars.\nThe final reason for the enforcement change is the upkeep of the playing surfaces. Wear and tear in the HPER generally results in roughly $20 to $30,000 in maintenance for the floor's finish, Patrick said. The finish damage usually results from wet items such as shoes left on the HPER floors.\nAccording to the policy, students will now have three options for storing their items. Students can purchase their own lock and secure their items in the HPER's day storage locker. They can purchase a $5 dollar lock from the recreational Sports Member Services Station and use the day storage lockers, or students can use a regular rental locker in the HPER locker rooms.\n"I know they put new lockers by the fieldhouse," said judo student and senior Heidi Seidel. "And they can maybe fit people with a few things, but I'm sure there will be people whose bags won't fit in there."\nThe new restrictions are being received with mixed reviews as some recognize the need for safety and to prevent theft, but they don't seem to be sweeping problems.\n"I think (the policy) is necessary in some rooms and unnecessary in others," Kelly said. "I think it should be on a class to class basis."\nHPER staff will begin the enforcement fully by next week, gathering any item found on activity floors during classes or Recreational Sports.\n"I'm not going to change my ways at all," Seidel said. "I'm going to bring my bag to the classroom because my teacher hasn't had a problem with it all year."\n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(10/20/04 5:55am)
After being on the receiving end of one of the biggest upsets of the college soccer season, IU will look to rebound in Indianapolis Wednesday against the Butler Bulldogs (10-3-1).\nThe Hoosiers dropped out of the top-five in both the College Soccer Times and Soccer America polls after Sunday's loss to Northwestern. The loss came two days after the Hoosiers reached a landmark 50-straight Big Ten wins.\n"Sometimes, if we've been having our way the last couple games, we get comfortable and we don't come out there like we need to play every game," said senior midfielder Danny O'Rourke. "We need to get back in the flow of getting everything right every day."\nIU is 13-1-1 against Butler all-time, with last year's match standing as the lone tie in the series. In the second half of that game, IU mounted eight shots on the Bulldog's keeper, Evan Reinhardt, who shut the door on all of them.\nPotentially serving as the turning point in the season, though not being able to score on the eight shots, IU rallied off a 15-0-1 record after the Butler game en route to a national championship.\n"It's a big game," said junior midfielder Brian Plotkin. "That's always the case with anything within the state."\nThe Hoosiers will have to face a short week of practice once again, as they face another week with two games. Including last weekend's game against Wisconsin and Northwestern, IU will play four games in 10 days -- something IU coach Mike Freitag looks to change for the future. Sunday the Hoosiers travel to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State.\n"It's something we've talked about for a year now," he said, "and something I have to address in the future to try and get Big Ten games on the weekend (to be) one game."\nIn the grand scheme of things, Freitag said the Northwestern game was "good for college soccer." He said it made the Big Ten stronger and proved that no game will come easy.\nLooking forward, Freitag remained optimistic about his team response to such a loss.\n"Our guys will rebound and come back and hopefully play some better soccer," he said.\nWednesday's match will be held at Butler's Kuntz Stadium at 7 p.m.\n-- Contact staff writer Brian \nJanosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
(10/18/04 5:09am)
The Hoosiers made history Friday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium by reaching 50 straight Big Ten conference regular season games without a loss.\nBut by Sunday afternoon the streak was just that -- history.\nIU fell to Northwestern (8-3-2, 1-1-1) 1-0, breaking a 50-game Big Ten unbeaten streak, 30-game home unbeaten streak and a 20-0 all-time record against the Wildcats.\n"What bothers me is losing," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "Whether it's a streak or not ... It had to happen sooner or later, maybe this is the right time for it to happen so we can get refocused and go on with the season."\nThe No. 3 ranked Hoosiers defeated Wisconsin Friday 1-0 on a goal by sophomore midfielder John Michael Hayden in the sixth minute with the assist going to junior forward Mike Ambersley. Hayden and Ambersley led the offense for IU combining for 10 shots and six of the team's seven shots on goal. \n"(Ambersley) is the type of player that when it starts getting cooler he gets hot," Freitag said. "John Michael is just coming into his own. He's going to be one of the premier players in this league for a couple more years."\nThe Hoosiers entered the Northwestern match having not lost a regular season conference game since 1995. But the joyride would soon end against a Wildcat team described as "not your father's Northwestern team," by Wildcat coach Tim Lenahan.\n"We're playing Indiana!" he said. "They're just playing another game. It's very difficult for Indiana to come out for 50 straight games with a bulls eye on their back."\nJust like the match Friday evening, the lone goal came in the sixth minute when Northwestern sent a long ball into the IU box. Northwestern midfielder Kevin Earnest lunged for the ball, redirecting it right in front of IU senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly. Before Nolly could even react, a streaking Wildcat forward, Brad North, put the ball into the net right under Nolly's arm.\n"That goal was probably the best thing that happened in the game, for them and for us," Freitag said. "It woke us up a bit, we could have very easily gone and led a worse game than what happened."\nIU had two golden opportunities to even the score, one coming in each half. In the 10th minute, Ambersley got a shot off from 18 yards out that got over the goalkeeper's reach, struck the crossbar and rolled harmlessly out of bounds.\nWith just five minutes left in the game, the soccer gods struck again pushing a free kick from junior midfielder Brian Plotkin off the upper left corner of the crossbar. Between the two shots, IU was inches away from pushing the streak to 51 games.\n"I thought after those opportunities we picked it up a little bit." Plotkin said. "The energy level seemed like it rose, but we weren't able to use that energy and find the goal."\nOne week after winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, Nolly put together two more quality games, totaling seven saves on the weekend including a crucial blocked penalty kick against Wisconsin. \n"I figured I had him read on that side," Nolly said. "I went and the ball was there."\nIU (9-3-1, 4-1) will look to start anew with many of its broken streaks starting Wednesday when they head to Indianapolis to face Butler. The Hoosiers finish the Big Ten schedule next weekend at Ohio State with a first round bye in the Big Ten tournament on the line. \nDepending on next week's games there is still a chance for IU to seek revenge hosting Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament.\n"God help us if we have to meet them again," Lenahan said.\n-- Contact staff writer Brian \nJanosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.