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(11/21/00 4:33am)
The men's soccer team supposedly put itself in a hole after losing three consecutive games heading into the NCAA tournament. The skid put the Hoosiers on the road to start the tournament for the first time since 1992.\nBut against San Jose State Saturday, IU (14-6) showed playing on the road won't hamper its quest for a third consecutive NCAA title. \nThe Hoosiers beat the Spartans 4-0.\nIU now makes it second trip west when it plays at Washington (14-5) Saturday in the second round in Seattle. The Huskies will show IU a style of play it hasn't seen often this season.\nThey play with four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards and don't have designated wide midfielders. Instead, the marking backs attack on the outside, as do the forwards. IU coach Jerry Yeagley said the style is similar to that of Virginia, which IU defeated 2-1 earlier this season.\nThe Hoosiers had no trouble defending the Huskies' style last season, when IU defeated Washington 2-0 in the tournament. Senior forward Matt Fundenberger said the Hoosiers hope to win this time by doing what they did against San Jose State.\n"I think (Washington) can keep possession well at times, and they can play textbook soccer at times," he said. "As far as what we need to do against them, I think it's the same things we did against San Jose -- putting them under pressure, forcing them to make mistakes, and then finding a way to finish our chances.\n"I think if we do those few things, we'll be all right."\nThe Hoosiers will also benefit from a healthy lineup.\nAfter ending the regular season with several starters injured, IU will play Washington in good health. Perhaps the most important returner to the lineup is senior goalkeeper T.J. Hannig.\nHannig sat out six weeks after injuring his knee in practice in late September. He returned to the lineup against Cal-Berkeley to end the regular season, but coach Jerry Yeagley said Hannig wasn't in top form in the match. Against San Jose State, the old Hannig returned.\n"T.J. looked like he was in top form," Yeagley said. "He was moving with speed and confidence. He caught everything cleanly in the air and came out on two exits extremely strong.\n"If T.J. can play the way that he's capable, his tournament experience and confidence is a big edge for us. The confidence that he gave the rest of the team through his performance was significant in that match."\nAside from individual players returning to the lineup, the Hoosiers rediscovered their scoring touch against the Spartans as well.\nAfter scoring one goal in its final three games, IU had its largest tournament opener victory since 1993. Fundenberger and Hannig said the large margin of victory gave the Hoosiers more confidence.\n"I feel real confident with the way we're playing," Hannig said. "Everything sort of came together in the San Jose State game. In the three games prior that we lost, we'd been playing well and getting chances, but we'd just been a bit unlucky.\n"But everything sort of came together (against San Jose State), and this is the time of year where everything needs to come together for us"
(11/14/00 5:33am)
The men's soccer team usually watches the NCAA tournament draw to see what seed it will get. Or who it will be host to in the first round.\nMonday, the Hoosiers, NCAA champions the past two seasons, tuned in to the draw to see if they made the tournament at all.\nThey did.\nBut their road to the Final Four won't be an easy one.\nIU travels to undefeated and eighth-seeded San Jose State in the first round and will play on the road throughout the tournament. This season will be the first time since 1992 the Hoosiers haven't played their tournament opener at home. \nCoach Jerry Yeagley said he's pleased with making the tournament, regardless of where his team plays.\n"We have no one to blame but ourselves," he said. "It's a tough road, but we're in the tournament, and there are a heck of a lot of good teams that aren't. I'm just happy to be in the tournament really. We gave ourselves a real challenge, but I like our matchup."\nAnd no one's proven playing on the road early means elimination.\nLast season, IU played Santa Clara in the championship game. The Broncos won their second- and third-round games on the road. The year before, Stanford traveled cross country and beat Virginia before making it to the championship match.\nAnd the Hoosiers know their path to a third consecutive title could be tougher.\nSeveral seeded teams play perennial soccer powerhouses in the first round. South Carolina, the No. 7 seed, is host to Duke, while fourth-seeded San Diego is host to UCLA.\n"There are some traditional strong teams that are some of the lower teams, and that's always dangerous," Yeagley said. "There are some first-round games that are going to be fairly easy, but also a number of first-round games that are going to be very difficult."\nThat parity also shows in who did and did not receive seeds.\nOnly the top eight teams are seeded, and while the seeds are a fair indication of the strength of some teams, they don't necessarily predict who will advance to the final four.\n"You never know what they're going to do," senior midfielder Justin Tauber said. "Two years ago, we were No. 1 pretty much the whole year and had only two losses, and we got an eight seed. It's weird how they do it.\nThe Hoosiers might not have known how the committee was going to choose its 32-team field, but they now know where they stand.\nAnd they feel ready to defend their title.\n"I think our schedule has prepared us well for going on the road in the first round," junior goalkeeper Colin Rogers. "We've played games away from home on the east coast and recently on the west coast. So I think we'll be ready"
(11/10/00 5:53am)
Two losses last weekend in California dropped the men's soccer team from contending for a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament to contending for a seed -- period.\nAlthough unlikely, the Hoosiers could be excluded from the NCAAs for the first time since 1987 if they don't win at least one game this weekend in the Big Ten tournament.\n"The guys, they definitely know where we stand and where we are," coach Jerry Yeagley said. "There's sort of a somber seriousness among the team.\n"I don't think there's a loss of confidence in the team, but just a realization that we've got to be sharper, we can't make the defensive mistakes we did, and we've got to capitalize on our opportunities."\nIU gets a chance to do those things today when it faces Ohio State in the Big Ten semifinals.\nThe fifth-seeded Buckeyes advanced to the semifinal by beating fourth-seeded Wisconsin 2-1 yesterday in the first round. The Hoosiers earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye. \nYeagley said Ohio State gave IU perhaps its toughest match of the Big Ten regular season, a 1-0 IU victory.\n"We probably had our worst game of the season and still came out with a victory," sophomore midfielder Phil Presser said. "I think if we come out ready to play, it shouldn't be too hard for us to get a victory."\nYeagley said his team's intensity disappeared somewhat throughout the latter half of the season. The Hoosiers won several close games but did so without showing fight.\nThat fight resurfaced in the second half Sunday against Cal-Berkeley, after IU fell behind 2-0 at halftime. The Hoosiers lost 2-1, but dominated the Bears in the second half.\nYeagley said senior midfielder Justin Tauber was responsible for IU's rejuvenated intensity, and he expects Tauber to lead the way this weekend.\n"He's going to have to step up. We're going to look to him to provide the spark and leadership by example through his own play and through his leadership," Yeagley said. \nThe stipulations surrounding this year's Big Ten tournament are different from what Tauber is accustomed. The past three seasons, the Hoosiers have used the Big Ten tournament to secure their seed for the NCAA tournament -- not fight just to get one.\nAlthough Tauber and the Hoosiers enter this Big Ten tournament with a different approach, he said the team is capable of winning this weekend and securing a tournament berth.\n"It's definitely a different feeling," Tauber said. "The last three years, we didn't actually have to win a Big Ten game to get in. But I think we all feel confident.\n"(The second half against Cal) gave us a big boost of confidence, knowing now we have to play with that intensity for the rest of the season or we won't have a rest of the season. If we play with that sense of urgency for 90 minutes, we'll be fine"
(11/03/00 9:45am)
This weekend is supposed to be an uneventful one for the men's soccer team. Coach Jerry Yeagley traditionally gives the team a week off before the Big Ten Tournament so it can rest -- both physically and mentally.\nBut this year will be different.\nTomorrow, the Hoosiers play Stanford in the Cal-Berkeley Classic. IU (13-3) finishes the regular season Sunday against the host Bears.\nSo instead of having a weekend off before the postseason begins, IU has one of its toughest weekends of the season.\nNot only do the Hoosiers play two games in two days -- something they haven't done since opening the season 0-2 at home -- but they have to play one of the nation's top teams in Stanford.\nThe Cardinals and the Hoosiers are ranked in the top five in every major college soccer poll. Stanford holds first place in the Soccer America poll, while IU is No. 1 in the internetsoccer.com media poll.\nMore important, IU is first and Stanford is second in collegiate soccer's power ratings. Yeagley said the ratings are perhaps the most important factor in determining seeds for the NCAA tournament.\nThe top eight seeds in the tournament usually play the first two rounds of the tournament at home, while the top four get homefield advantage for three rounds.\nThe Hoosiers know that means their final regular season games are crucial to the postseason.\n"It's a real important weekend," sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan said. "It's going to tell where we head into Big Tens and trying to get that homefield advantage. We win both these games, and it gives us a great shot at being home the rest of the playoffs."\nWinning the Stanford game would mean beating what many coaches consider the best team in the nation. Yeagley said coaches on the West Coast regard Stanford as the team to beat, and he said he doesn't disagree.\nThe Cardinals start eight seniors and have one of the nation's premiere players in Ryan Nelsen, a senior from New Zealand -- and captain of the New Zealand national team.\nStanford also boasts senior Adam Zapala at goalkeeper. Zapala has allowed four goals in 16 games; his 0.26 goals against average is third best in the nation.\nPlaying a tough team on the road late in the season is nothing new to the Hoosiers, who lost to James Madison at a neutral site late last season and lost at UCLA to finish the regular season the year before.\n"(It's like) a wake-up call, what have you, a late season attitude adjustment to get everybody right," Yeagley said. "I'm not saying a loss is a good thing, but I am saying a good, hard test prior to tournament, I think is important. And that's why we scheduled them.\n"Traveling to another region in the country, going cross country, playing a team in their backyard is tough. But it's a good challenge, it's a good test, and it's what we want at this time."\nIt might also be what the Hoosiers need to get into the right mindset.\n"It's really big because if we beat Stanford, I think it proves that we can beat the top couple teams in the nation," junior forward Ryan Mack said. "I think that'll give us a lot of confidence for the NCAA tournament.\n"We'll be ready"
(10/25/00 5:25am)
Colin Rogers hadn't started a game in his collegiate soccer career until four weeks ago.\nSince then, the IU junior goalkeeper has started and won seven consecutive games.\nRogers recorded his sixth and seventh victories -- and fourth and fifth shutouts -- of the season last week against Kentucky and Ohio St. The Big Ten recognized Rogers for his efforts, naming him conference player of the week.\nRogers' play against the Buckeyes might have sent the award his direction. He said the five-save shutout was one of his best performances of the season.\n"I was a little more confident on my exits (in the Ohio State game)," he said. "Still there were a couple balls that I could've done better on. But I definitely felt very confident in what I was doing, and from that standpoint, I felt it was one of my better games of the year."\nRogers didn't take full credit for his award, though. He said his defense had as much to do with the honor as he did.\n"I feel for a goalie to get any award; it's more of a team defense award, because without the guys in front of me, no goalie could get any award," he said. "But having put in four years of hard work here, to be recognized, it's nice."\nGetting healthy\nThe Hoosiers might have gotten a two-week vacation at just the right time.\nSeveral players have been riddled with injuries the past few weeks, and coach Jerry Yeagley said he plans on using the time to rest some of his players.\nSenior goalkeeper T.J. Hannig is expected to begin training again this week after missing four weeks with a lateral meniscus tear. Several other players are nursing less serious injuries.\nJunior defender John Swann played the last three games with an ankle injury, and sophomore midfielder Phil Presser sprained his knee Sunday against the Buckeyes.\n"We have a number of guys with aches and pains," Yeagley said. "But these guys are tough, and mentally, they can overcome some of that. I credit our athletic trainer and our sports medicine people.\n"They do a great job not only of preventing (injuries), but treating and then psychologically... There's a lot of psychology to getting yourself ready. We have had very little playing time lost compared to most (teams) over recent years."\nPoll update\nIU remained in the top five in all national polls after its two latest victories.\nThe Hoosiers stayed fifth in the soccertimes.com poll, behind North Carolina, Southern Methodist, San Jose State and Stanford. IU jumped from fifth to fourth in the Soccer America poll, trailing SMU, Stanford and North Carolina. \nIn the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, the Hoosiers dropped from second to third, switching spots with SMU. San Jose State remained first in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.\nThe lone poll in which IU ranks first is the internetsoccer.com media poll. The Hoosiers kept the No. 1 ranking for the second straight week. Stanford, Connecticut, North Carolina and SMU round out the internetsoccer.com top 5.\nThe Hoosiers are also in the top 5 of a ratings index on collegesoccer.com. The ratings index, which helps determine seeds in the NCAA tournament, rated UCLA first and IU second in its most recent poll, which came out last week. The Hoosiers trailed the Bruins by only five points -- 1953-1948 -- and could take the top spot in the next poll, because UCLA lost two games over the weekend.\nAlma maters\nThe alma maters of several IU players will participate in the Indiana High School Athletic Association state finals this weekend in Indianapolis.\nCanterbury, Presser's former high school, was ranked No. 1 in the final regular season IHSAA poll and will play Indianapolis North Central in the final four. Two IU players -- senior forward Matt Fundenberger and sophomore goalkeeper Matt Reiswerg -- played their high school soccer at North Central.\nCanterbury's coach, Greg Mauch, coaches with Yeagley at IU soccer camps every summer and has improved his program this season.\nAfter winning consecutive state championships in Presser's final two years at Canterbury, the Cavaliers struggled somewhat last season and lost in sectional play.\n"I still know what's going on there because I still talk to coach Mauch," Presser said. "I'm happy for him. He's totally turned things around there this year"
(10/23/00 5:33am)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The men's soccer team needed a penalty kick in the game's 20th minute Sunday to beat Ohio State in its final regular season Big Ten game.\nThe penalty kick, scored by senior forward Matt Fundenberger after junior midfielder Tyler Hawley was taken down in the penalty area, was all the scoring that took place at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, as IU won 1-0.\nCoach Jerry Yeagley said he'll take the victory, The Hoosiers' 10th consective, but he didn't like the way his Hoosiers played.\n"I thought both goalkeepers played very well," said Yeagley, whose team improved to 13-3 with the victory. "As far as field play goes, it was a choppy, scrappy game, and I thought they scrapped better than we did.\n"… There wasn't much of a midfield game (Sunday). There wasn't much possession by either team."\nThe lack of a possession played to the Buckeyes' advantage.\nWhile Ohio State plays aggressively and direct, IU plays a slower, possession-oriented attack. Against the Buckeyes, the Hoosiers were drawn away from their style of play.\nNot one of IU's center midfielders was able to mount much of an attack, and the Hoosiers often lost the ball once they did get an attack going. Several attacks ended because of long balls played in the air.\n"We played poorly," Fundenberger said. "We didn't keep possession of the ball at all. If we keep possession of the ball, we can beat any team.\n"But we're just kicking the ball up the field, running after it, hoping something happens. We need to keep better possession of the ball, and that'll create chances, coming from wide, coming through the middle."\nIU's most legitimate chances came from the middle against Ohio State. Sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan had several opportunities in the middle of the field, one of which was a 20-yard blast saved by Kerry Thompson. The Buckeye goalkeeper stopped a would-be goal by junior midfielder Ryan Mack, as well.\nThe Hoosiers had some solid goalkeeping of their own from junior Colin Rogers.\nRogers, starting his seventh straight game in place of the injured T.J. Hannig, recorded five saves in his fifth shutout of the season. He dominated the penalty area, often challenging attackers for balls served in the air.\nYeagley said Rogers has become a better goalkeeper since his first start three weeks ago.\n"We're getting more and more confidence in him," Yeagley said. "I think he's playing a more conservative approach to goalkeeping, whereas before he was a little more adventuresome and a little on the side of risk taking.\n"Even though there were some that maybe he could have come out on, he's not endangering us by overplaying the position, which was a bit of a problem early on."\nThe Hoosiers don't play again until Nov. 4 at the Cal-Berkeley Classic, and Hannig is expected to return that weekend.\nIU's first match of the classic is against Stanford, who's ranked as high as second in national polls. The Hoosiers know that a victory in that game might mean playing better than they did Sunday.\n"I think next time we play we have to play a lot harder and show what we're really capable of doing," junior defender Ryan Hammer said. "(Sunday) I think we came out there and a lot of guys weren't focused mentally, and it showed.\n"So next time, we definitely need to come out there focused right from the start and lay down the tone and show them how we're going to play -- not play their style of game, play ours"
(10/20/00 6:14am)
The men's soccer team's Big Ten season isn't done yet.\nThe Hoosiers might have already clinched a No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, but they have one regular season conference game remaining.\nThat game takes place Sunday afternoon at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.\nIn the Buckeyes, IU will face a team on the rise in collegiate soccer. Ohio St. posted its best record in 10 years last season, going 11-8.\nThis season, the Buckeyes are improving on that record. They're 7-2-4 entering Sunday's match, and that record has earned them national recognition. Ohio State is ranked 20th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll and 24th in the soccertimes.com poll.\n"I picked them early on," IU coach Jerry Yeagley said. "I expected Ohio State and Penn State to be the toughest teams based on who they have returning, and Ohio State's done very well.\n"They have an upset loss at home to Wisconsin. Otherwise, we would be playing for the season here."\nThe Hoosiers, in a sense, are still playing for the season. They're playing to make it a complete one.\n"We want to make sure we end on a good note," junior sweeper Josh Rife said. "Just in the polls and everything, even though they're not important, I guess maybe to send a message to the rest of the teams out there that we're here to play.\n"And even though we have Big Ten wrapped up, it's not an excuse to let down."\nIU indeed can't afford to let down offensively against the Buckeyes, whose goalkeeper, Kerry Thompson, is tied for ninth in the nation in goals against. Thompson has allowed .71 goals per game, which is also tied for first in the Big Ten.\nThompson and the Ohio State defense have kept the Buckeyes in several games, including the past four.\nThree of the Buckeyes past four games have gone into double overtime. Two of them finished in 0-0 ties. The most recent was a double-overtime 1-1 tie at Penn State.\nOffensively, the Buckeyes boast senior midfielder Brian Feldhaus, the third leading scorer in the Big Ten. Feldhaus has scored eight goals and tallied four assists on the season.\n"They're a complete team," Yeagley said. "They play a ball control style of play. They're good on transition, and they have good speed. (Coach) John Bluem's done a very nice job slowly building that program.\n"Ohio State has really thrown a lot into that program with the new facility and everything."\nThe Hoosiers get to play at the Buckeyes' new facility just two weeks before the Big Ten tournament takes place at the same venue.\n"It will be nice to get down there," junior goalkeeper Colin Rogers said. "We'll get to see the field, play on the field and kind of see where we're going to be for the Big Ten tournament"
(10/19/00 5:49am)
David Prall knew he wouldn't play last season.\nHe knew, as a freshman soccer player from Bloomington High School South, he'd redshirt his first season for coach Jerry Yeagley and have to fight like mad for playing time the next.\nThat's what he knew.\nHere's what he couldn't have predicted.\nPrall found himself starting as a marking back two games into this season.\nHe came to IU as a redshirt midfielder. Neither he nor Yeagley thought he'd start as a defender two games into his first season of eligibility.\n"They like to change people around here," Prall said. "Everybody's either a center mid or a forward coming in. You've got to switch. I just said I wanted to be anywhere on the field.\n"They were like, 'Well, work on your defense.' I did that throughout the summer. I came in, and they said to be ready to play anywhere from outside mid, to sweeper, to marking back."\nPrall's position might be more surprising than his playing time.\nYeagley said he expected to use Prall somewhere, and he said he thought that somewhere would be in the midfield.\nA couple of injuries and a position change later, Yeagley needed a marking back.\nFreshmen Kellen Kalso and Matt Ahumada suffered injuries before the season began, and junior Tyler Hawley switched from the back to the midfield.\nSo Yeagley turned to Prall. And not because of physical attributes.\n"The activities that he did as a redshirt...he'd find a way to win," Yeagley said. "He's got those qualities. He's a scrapper. He doesn't look flashy, and he's not that big, he's not that fast. But he's effective.\n"He's the kind of player that just kind of has a positive effect on the team. When he's up against forwards, even if they're faster, and bigger and stronger, he finds a way."\nAt 5-foot-10 and 150 pounds, Prall's way isn't a conventional one. He doesn't beat attackers in the air or outrun them. He fights them off.\n"I just keep grabbing shirts and fouling people more than anything," he said. "I came in last year, I was probably about 15 pounds lighter. They told me I needed to gain weight. So I gained a lot of weight and still need to put more on, obviously. This year, it's been hard, but you just keep fighting, keep on working."\nPrall's scrappiness and work ethic have helped him gel with junior defenders John Swann and Josh Rife. \nRife said Prall's fight helps him against bigger opponents.\n"He's just real tenacious," Rife said. "He doesn't give up on anything. He's just always there. Again, he's not the biggest guy out there, but it doesn't matter. He's just on you, fighting with you and making you work hard."\nPrall's tenacity has paid dividends for the Hoosiers attack as well as its defense.\nIn 15 games, he has scored three goals -- the fourth most on the team. He leads all IU defenders in scoring.\nEach of Prall's goals came in the penalty area, and two could be considered garbage goals -- the type of goal a scrappy player tends to score.\nAgainst Michigan, Prall scored on a chest-ball from inside the six-yard box. He scored from the same distance against Northwestern, collecting a deflected ball and placing it inside the near post.\nPrall's first goal came off a corner kick against Virginia, when IU upset the then-No. 1 Cavaliers 2-1 in overtime. His ability to score under pressure in that game, as well as his play in other big games, has impressed Yeagley.\n"He has nerves of steel," Yeagley said. "Big games, he doesn't get the anxiety legs. He (has freshman eligibility), and in the big games, he goes out there and plays steady. Things don't seem to bother him."\nPrall admitted he doesn't get nervous. Big games bring pressure, he said, but that disappears when the whistle blows.\nBesides, Prall doesn't have time to feel pressure. He's just happy to be playing.\n"I've been watching (IU) all my life," Prall said. "It's been a dream of mine. It's always been a big dream. I didn't come out highly recruited, and they didn't think I could play here. A lot of people said I couldn't. But coach just gave me a shot. It's just a dream come true just to be out on the field, wearing the jersey."\nEven earlier -- and more often -- than he expected.
(10/18/00 5:53am)
The men's soccer team earned itself a No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament Sunday when it beat Northwestern in its final home game.\nNext order of business: ensuring more home games come NCAA tournament time.\nTo do that, IU must win its remaining games and hope for a high NCAA seed. The Hoosiers play four more regular season games before the Big Ten tournament, the first of which is tonight against Kentucky.\n"Face it, last time we played Kentucky, it was on our field, and we had to go to overtime to beat them in the NCAA Tournament," coach Jerry Yeagley said. "I know they feel they have a stronger team this year. Right now, they're playing their best. They have a 7-5 record, but they lost some games early when they were not full strength... I think it will be a difficult game."\nYeagley predicts difficulty for several reasons.\n • IU plays Kentucky, a nonconference opponent, on a Wednesday night. The Hoosiers struggled in their two previous mid-week games this season, beating both IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis and Louisville 2-0. In both matches, the Hoosiers needed late goals to win.\n • The Wildcats play a physical game. They employ a high pressure defense and put plenty of balls in the air in the penalty area. Such an attack should test IU's defense and junior goalkeeper Colin Rogers.\n"They serve balls up, fight for the knockdown," Yeagley said. "This is a game that (former IU goalkeeper) Doug Warren lost his starting spot in the rotation to (senior goalkeeper) T.J. (Hannig), because he hadn't faced that kind of pressure. And it will be interesting to see how Colin handles that kind of pressure."\nHannig, who injured his knee three weeks ago, had planned on returning for the Kentucky game. But trainers said Hannig would return after five to six weeks.\nThe Hoosiers are taking the trainers' advice. Yeagley said Hannig will rest two more weeks and should return for the Cal-Berkeley Classic Nov. 4-5.\nRogers, who has started and won five consecutive games, hasn't been challenged in several of his starts, and he has gotten more confident.\n"I'm feeling more and more comfortable with every game," he said. "I'm getting exposed to different situations and different experiences in the game.\n"The last couple games we've played, teams have given us a little room in the back. But if (the Wildcats) do come out and high pressure us, it'll be a test for us."\nAnother test will be whether IU starts the game ready to play.\n"I think we'll just have to make sure we're sharp, unlike the Northwestern game, where we came out a little sluggish," junior sweeper Josh Rife said. "We're going to have to be sharp on everything"
(10/16/00 6:19am)
Coach Jerry Yeagley knew before his men's soccer team took the field Sunday that it wasn't ready to play Northwestern.\nThe Hoosiers proved him right just 45 seconds into the game.\nWildcat forward Jun Kim took a cross from midfielder Steven Jedlinski in the game's first minute and headed it past junior goalkeeper Colin Rogers, giving Northwestern the early lead.\nThe Hoosiers responded with three first-half goals and won 4-1, but Yeagley said he wasn't pleased.\n"We could tell during warmups and in the locker room that the guys weren't ready," Yeagley said. "I think some of the players were looking past this and looking at Northwestern's record and waiting for them to self-destruct. I was very disappointed with the lack of intensity and focus that we brought to this game.\n"I'm not making any excuses. We need to learn from this. The sign of a championship-caliber team is one that comes out and takes care of business and is focused and ready to play."\nThe Hoosiers found their focus near the end of the first half, when freshman marking back David Prall tucked a Ryan Mack cross inside the near post.\nMack, a junior forward, collected the ball on the right side, and his cross was deflected by senior forward Matt Fundenberger. Prall collected the ball and scored his third goal of the season at the 11:59 mark.\nSophomore midfielder Pat Noonan gave IU the lead about a minute later.\nSophomore forward Michael Bock carried the ball up the left side and played a ball to Noonan in the penalty area. Noonan beat Northwestern goalkeeper Chris Berlin for the 2-1 lead.\nFundenberger gave IU a 3-1 lead with 1:29 remaining in the first half, when he collected a botched save by Berlin and scored on an open net.\nWith the goal, Fundenberger rose to 13th on IU's all-time goalscoring list. He has scored five goals in the past three games, and the Hoosiers have scored 14 times in that span. Fundenberger credits the success to better possession play.\n"I think the main thing is we're keeping better possession of the ball," he said. "We're playing it around, we're getting the ball wide, we're serving it in. Those things are creating opportunities."\nWith 25 minutes left in the second half, freshman forward Lucas Christian recorded his first career assist, heading the ball to Noonan on the left side. Noonan bent a shot around Berlin and inside the far post for the goal, his seventh of the season.\nDespite his two goals and a three-goal victory, Noonan, like Yeagley, said he didn't think the Hoosiers played well.\n"We're a better team and we showed it later, but at the beginning we played soft," he said. "That kind of stuff can't happen. We didn't come out hard enough and quick enough against a team, and they burnt us in the first minute.\n"Playing 89 minutes isn't going to be enough, even against a team that's not as good as you are."\nThough IU didn't play its best game, it did play well enough to clinch the victory. And a No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.\n"It's crucial for post-season," Yeagley said. "We're the only team in the Big Ten that won't have to play three days, if we should win. We play two, and that's important."
(10/13/00 11:55pm)
Jet fuel, he says.\nJet fuel powered Matt Fundenberger, a senior forward on the men's soccer team, to his third-career hat trick Sunday against Michigan.\nIn a 7-0 victory, Fundenberger showed flashes of quickness, scoring three goals in the first 26 minutes of play and assisting an another.\nHe darted past two defenders and drew a penalty kick on his first goal. \nAnd he moved quickly enough to get open on the next two.\nFundenberger claims jet fuel put the bounce in his step Sunday, but he doesn't credit his goal-scoring skills to his speed or the fuel.\n"I think it's really just getting in the right spot at the right time," he said. "Knowing when someone's going to serve it in, and then making a run from there. So maybe I just have a little bit of a knack of getting at the right place at the right time."\nHe brought that knack with him from high school.\nAs a freshman, Fundenberger scored 13 goals and was named a Soccer America Freshman All-American. His goal total dropped the next season, when he scored only twice, but he came back with 10 goals last year.\nAfter seven goals in 12 games this season, Fundenberger finds himself in 14th place on IU's all-time goalscoring list. He's also 18th on the career points list with 85.\nBut such accolades don't weigh on Fundenberger's mind. He came to IU to play soccer, not to break records. \n"I never really thought about it," he said. "I really don't think about it even now. That's not the type of thing I just sit there all day and think about.\n"Coming in, I just wanted to try to do something with the team, just somehow fit in."\nFundenberger has fit in the past three seasons as a complement to Aleksey Korol, who now plays professionally.\nKorol played the speedy, playmaker role. Fundenberger, the slower, right-place-at-the-right-time role. With Korol providing much of IU's attack -- he's fifth all-time with 57 goals -- Fundenberger was effective playing a full 90 minutes and getting goals when needed.\nBut this season, Fundenberger's playing time hasn't been concrete.\nHe sees more time during some games than others and is often substituted in favor of the faster Michael Bock, a sophomore. Part of the reason for Fundenberger's playing time is that coach Jerry Yeagley called on Fundenberger to be a main goal scorer, and he hadn't answered until the Michigan game.\nYeagley hopes the Michigan game is indicative of what Fundenberger will continue to do.\n"Hopefully that's a sign of what's going to be coming the last half of the season," Yeagley said. "He just seemed to have a bounce in his step. \n"But he was right. He was right psychologically, and he was right physically. And a lot of Fundy's success has to come from service."\nFundenberger's teammates are starting to realize that.\nJunior forward Ryan Mack knows working with Fundenberger means getting the ball to his feet. Without the speed of some forwards, Fundenberger doesn't thrive on receiving balls in space.\n"He's a real talented player," Mack said. "He needs the ball played to his feet. He's a great finisher, a good passer, he just needs a little bit more speed.\n"I think the team learns how to play with him. If the team around him gives him good balls, he can finish them. He's just good around the net, in the box. You've just got to play to his strengths."\nAnd hope he brings the jet fuel.
(10/11/00 5:16am)
The men's soccer team finds itself in familiar territory midway though its Big Ten schedule.\nThe Hoosiers, riding a 35-game unbeaten streak in conference play, lead the conference with a 3-0 record. Following IU are Penn State (3-1 in conference play), Ohio State (1-1-1), Michigan State (1-1-1), Wisconsin (1-1), Michigan (0-2) and Northwestern (0-3).\nShould the Hoosiers win their games against Wisconsin and Northwestern this weekend, they'd be in position to claim the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. IU plays Ohio State after this weekend, and the Buckeyes already have a loss and a tie, so a loss to Ohio State would still leave the Hoosiers atop the Big Ten.\n"It's huge," junior forward Ryan Mack said. "I think that's probably one of the biggest first steps to winning another national championship. I think that if we get set up good for Big Tens and win Big Tens, we'll have a good shot at winning the national championship again."\nMichigan's welcome party\nMichigan played IU Sunday in only its second Big Ten game. The Wolverines took Penn State to overtime before losing 2-1 earlier this season, but were dominated by IU.\nBut, coach Jerry Yeagley said he doesn't think the Wolverines are as bad as the 7-0 score indicated.\n"They've had some good wins, and they can still make some noise in the Big Ten," he said. "They've got some more Big Ten games, and I wouldn't be surprised in the regular season and maybe in the tournament if they make some noise.\n"For a first-year program, I think a 7-0 score is not an indication of the difference in the programs. They're a lot better than the score indicates."\nClimbing the polls\nIU continued to move up the national collegiate soccer polls with its two victories this past weekend.\nThe Hoosiers moved up three spots in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, where they're now ranked second. The internetsoccer.com media poll ranks IU fifth, and both soccertimes.com and Soccer America rank the Hoosiers eighth.\nDominant defense\nYeagley said before this season started that defense was a question mark for the Hoosiers.\nIU allowed 11 goals in its first six games, and, against Creighton, the Hoosiers gave up four goals in a game for the first time in more than a decade.\nThat question mark has since faded.\nThe Hoosiers have gone 6-0 and allowed only two goals in their past six games, and both goals came in a 3-2 victory over Penn State, which was junior goalkeeper Colin Rogers' first career start.\nRogers isn't the only newcomer in IU's defensive third.\nJunior marking back John Swann had the most experience of any IU defender entering this season -- five starts. Freshman David Prall, IU's other starting marking back, said things have been clicking lately.\n"Swann and (junior Josh) Rife have been helping me out, talking to me," Prall said. "It's been getting easier lately, a lot easier. We're getting more confidence back there"
(10/09/00 5:46am)
Coach Jerry Yeagley knew this day was coming.\nHe knew, eventually, his men's soccer team would break out of its offensive funk, and he knew the day it happened would be an unpleasant one for IU's opponent.\nSunday was the day.\nMichigan was the opponent.\nAnd the Wolverines indeed had an unpleasant day Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. IU scored early and dominated for the full 90 minutes in a 7-0 victory.\n"I said the other night when we beat Butler 1-0, that somebody was going to catch the wrath of our offense," Yeagley said. "We were due. We had some things to prove, I think, in terms of our offense.\n"It was one of those days where everything seemed to go right. They caught us on the wrong day."\nThe Wolverines caught IU on a day when the Hoosiers successfully did things they've been trying to do all season.\nIn their first 10 games, the Hoosiers scored only one first-half goal and managed to squander many of the scoring chances they created.\nAgainst the Wolverines, IU netted five first-half goals and scored on half of its shots.\n"I think that we took a big step forward, finally getting the goals that we need in the first half and taking care of our chances," said freshman forward Lucas Christian, who scored his first career goal Sunday. "We've had a little streak of unluckiness and stuff, but (Sunday), we definitely were clicking."\nThe Hoosiers started clicking early, opening the scoring just 1:38 into the game.\nSenior forward Matt Fundenberger scored the opening goal, placing a penalty kick just inside the left post. The referee awarded IU the penalty kick after Fundenberger beat two defenders and was taken down in the penalty area.\nThe goal, Fundenberger's fifth of the season, foreshadowed a breakout performance by both IU and Fundenberger himself.\nWith 20:42 left in the first half, junior midfielder Ryan Mack fed Fundenberger the ball from 15 yards out, and Fundenberger beat Michigan goalkeeper Albert Geldres to the near post.\nFundenberger then recorded his third career hat trick three minutes later, heading in a cross from sophomore midfielder Marcus Chorvat.\n"Fundy, you know, he's scored a lot of big goals," Yeagley said. "He's been frustrated this year. It was just his day. In the offensive third, if people get him the ball, he'll put it away.\n"And his teammates found him (Sunday). And he was moving. You could tell before the game, his vibes were on."\nFundenberger's good vibes rubbed off on sophomore forward Michael Bock with 14:56 remaining in the first half.\nSophomore midfielder Phil Presser played a ball to Fundenberger, who collected the pass with his back to goal. Fundenberger played the ball to his right, and Bock hit the shot low and to the near post for a 4-0 IU lead.\nChristian closed the first half scoring with 8:02 remaining, when he calmly received a ball from sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan and placed a shot past Geldres.\nIU's dominance continued in the second half, with Mack making the score 6-0 at the 56:56 mark. Mack and Noonan both assisted on the final goal, scored by freshman defender David Prall.\nPrall's goal capped IU's best offensive showing since 1996, when the Hoosiers beat Northwestern 11-1.\n"I think (Sunday) we came out right from the get-go, and we were going to take it to them," Fundenberger said. "This was our breakthrough game that we needed to get the confidence, you know, that we've had in years past. \n"We just came out, and we took it right to them," he added. "We finished all our opportunities. We were keeping possession of the ball. This game is big for us, going forward"
(10/06/00 5:11am)
Jerry Yeagley knows nobody is invincible in collegiate soccer this season.\nThe men's soccer coach has seen his Hoosiers struggle to beat less talented teams. He's also seen top notch teams lose games they shouldn't.\n"I look at Duke," Yeagley said. "They were ranked one of the top teams in the nation. They played at home against Radford and lost 3-2. I mean, anything can happen. And they're not the only team that's lost to teams they shouldn't have lost to. You can't look past anybody."\nWith that in mind, Yeagley's Hoosiers travel to Kuntz Stadium tonight to play Butler. The Hoosiers then play at home Sunday against Michigan.\nBoth games could spell trouble for IU.\nIn Butler, the Hoosiers face a team who's lost three straight. The Bulldogs, led by sophomore Nick Pantazi's six goals, lost their past two games in overtime and have a 3-8 record. They're also getting used to a new coach, Todd Bramble.\n"They've had to get familiar with him and his style," Yeagley said. "He's getting to know the players. But we go up there after beating Penn State and before Michigan. This is a big weekend for them. It's going to be their chance to put a mark on their season.\n"I know we're going to get a terrific effort from them, so I'm concerned about that match."\nMichigan should prove just as dangerous as Butler.\nThe Wolverines became a varsity team this season, after years of dominance as a club team. They took Penn St. to overtime before losing 2-1 two weeks ago and improved their record to 4-4 Wednesday with an double-overtime victory over Western Michigan. Michigan is led by freshmen forwards Tom Gritter and Kevin Robinson, who have three goals apiece.\n"The Michigans, all those teams, are going to go out playing us like it's the most important game of the year," sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan said. "It's always good for a team like theirs to upset an Indiana or whoever it might be.\n"If Michigan can come in here and beat us, it's going to show a lot for them and put us down after the victory against Penn State."\nSophomore midfielder Phil Presser said a victory against Michigan will depend on the Hoosiers' playing level.\n"I think we're a lot more confident now," he said. "These coming games should be a test for us to see if we play to our level or their level. We definitely have to get over these next two games so we don't get upset"
(10/05/00 5:27am)
Pat Noonan carries himself like a veteran now, after one season with the men's soccer team.\nHis demeanor reeks of leadership.\nAnd his play shows he's come a long way since joining the team.\nNoonan, a sophomore, began his first season as a timid, skinny midfielder. He ended it as a key figure in IU's attack.\n "I think I just got more confidence as the year went on," said Noonan, a Ballwin, Mo., native. "And playing with the older players, them helping me out towards the end of the year, it gave me the confidence to play like I wasn't a freshman, like I wasn't out there trying to prove something.\n "I just had to go out there and play, and with them helping me, it really made a big difference towards the end of the year."\nThe difference?\n• In his first five games, Noonan managed two shots and one assist.\n• In IU's final three games of the NCAA tournament, he scored two goals and had two assists, including a goal in IU's 3-2 four-overtime victory against UCLA in the semifinal game.\nNoonan's play in the two Final Four matches convinced coach Jerry Yeagley that his young midfielder was over his freshman jitters. It also earned Noonan Soccer America Freshman All-American honors.\n"He had that freshman anxiety," Yeagley said. "But he finished on a very high note, and I think it was about near the end of the season when he really started to play with more confidence. Especially in the Final Four last year, he was one of our key players.\n"I think he was recognized as one of the top freshmen last year. So I think in the Final Four in the College Cup, he put his mark on that."\nNoonan has continued to put his mark on IU soccer this season.\nHe leads the team in goals with four -- three of them game-winners. His two assists give him 10 total points, which ties him with junior forward Ryan Mack for the team lead.\nBut stats alone don't tell Noonan's story.\nHis swagger shows he wants the ball. Once he gets it, he goes to goal. That confidence led Yeagley to make a change six games into the season.\n After a 4-1 loss to Creighton at the Butler Classic, Yeagley named Noonan tri-captain. With the promotion, Noonan joined seniors Justin Tauber and T.J. Hannig as current captains. He also became only the fourth sophomore captain in IU history.\nYeagley is not the only coach who has noticed Noonan this season.\nEarlier this week, Noonan was named one of 15 finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club Collegiate Player of the Year award. Only three sophomores were nominated for the award, which is voted on by coaches.\nNoonan said he's honored to be recognized by other coaches. He also said he figured he'd have a leadership role this season -- even before he was named captain.\n"I kind of knew I'd take a bit of a leadership role along with Tauber and T.J. and Macker and them," he said. "(Yeagley) talked about it at the beginning, that maybe it would come about. Just in the beginning of the year they thought, I guess, it was time for me to step up a little bit and take on that role. I'm glad to have that role.\n"I just wanted to make (younger players) feel comfortable the way I felt comfortable and hopefully get them, you know, involved as quickly as I was able to."\nNoonan has gotten his teammates involved, thus far, by drawing defenders' attention.\n"As you get older you're just going to get more confident as you go," sophomore midfielder Phil Presser said. "He has the ability to attack and create options for us. His one-versus-one abilities and his finishing abilities are pretty good."\n"I think defenders on other teams are more focused on marking him, and it opens our other players up, too."\nDon't look for Noonan to shy away from the ball, even if he is marked.\nAfter all, he's not a timid freshman anymore. He's a captain, and he's got both the armband and the swagger to show it.
(10/04/00 6:56am)
College soccer coaches and media members decided before this season that IU's Ryan Mack and T.J. Hannig were among the best players in the nation, when both players were named finalists for the Hermann Trophy, an award given to the nation's top player.\nAfter 10 games, coaches still feel Mack, a junior forward, and Hannig, a senior goalkeeper, deserve consideration for the honor. They think sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan deserves a look, too.\nNoonan, Mack and Hannig were named finalists Sunday for the Missouri Athletic Club's Player of the Year award -- the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's official player of the year honor.\nNoonan said just getting nominated is an honor; only 15 players are up for the award.\n"It's a great honor just to be considered one of the top players in the country," he said. "Just to be with some of the names that are on there, it is an honor.\n"If coaches such as coach (Jerry) Yeagley and some of the other top coaches consider you one of the better players and they're out there watching you and respect that, that does say a lot. It's something to be proud of," he said.\nThe nominations came after a game that gave IU something to be proud of -- a 3-2 upset victory Friday over then-No. 2 Penn State. Mack and Noonan each scored a goal; Noonan also tallied an assist.\nBoth players attributed their nominations to the team, not their individual efforts.\n"I think any of those awards are great honors," Mack said. "I think if we just go out there and perform to our highest ability for the team, not just individually, I think that will get recognized more.\n"I think we have to work for the team more than ourselves."\nNoonan echoed that thought.\n"I'm not too worried about the individual play," he said. "It could always be better. I've got to work on my defense more and just finishing; there's a lot of stuff I have to work on individually.\n"But the team comes first, and if we're winning, that's really all I care about right now."\nHannig has a while before he can focus on any aspect of play -- individual or team. His nomination came six days after he suffered a knee injury in practice. His return should be in 5-6 weeks, Yeagley said.\nHannig, too, said he felt honored by the nomination, and he said the recognition reflects well on IU. More Hoosiers were nominated than from any other school.\n"As always, this is a first-class program," he said. "We're bringing in top players in the country all the time. It's a big honor for the program. It gives us more recognition, and the recruits will want to come here"
(09/28/00 5:30am)
Men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley said earlier this season that scouting reports on IU probably said one thing: stop midfielders Ryan Mack, a junior, and Pat Noonan, a sophomore, and you'll stop IU.\nWhile such reports might bear some truth, they fail to mention the rest of IU's midfield -- which may be the most important part.\nBehind Mack and Noonan are two midfielders whose jobs are far less dazzling.\nThey are Justin Tauber and Phil Presser, and they are IU's defensive center midfielders.\nTauber, a senior, has been a defensive midfielder all season. Presser, a sophomore, started the season as an outside midfielder but moved to the middle to provide more defense and control.\nThe Hoosiers now play with Noonan as the sole attacking midfielder and Mack as a forward.\n"That was our whole game plan, to get more defense back there and let Noonan and Mack basically just float up top," Presser said. "Noonan's basically a third forward. He comes back and helps us out, but we wanted two more defensive mids back there.\n"And it's nice for Taubs and I, because we can both stand back and get the ball and then dribble and play attacking mid also. It's easy to distribute the ball back there with two of us."\nThroughout the season, Tauber and Presser have ignited the IU attack. Both serve as a link between IU's defense and its forwards.\nBut neither player started his career in a defensive role.\nIn fact, Tauber and Presser both came to IU after high school careers as go-to players. Tauber scored 33 goals in his senior season, and Presser led his team to two consecutive state championships in his final two seasons.\nThe switch to a defensive role didn't bother Tauber; it meant more playing time.\n"It was a big adjustment at first," Tauber said. "I was scoring all the goals and really not playing any defense in high school; I was a forward. Coming here was kind of a rude awakening as far as how much you have to defend in the game of soccer.\n"Over the last four years, I've just got a lot more confident defensively, working on it every day. It's been a big adjustment, but I had to adjust if I was going to see the field. So I adjusted."\n As did Presser, in more ways than one.\nPresser changed his position, his role on the team and his style of play this season.\nLast season, he came off the bench and saw time as an outside midfielder. He played a limited role because the Hoosiers were loaded with talent. He also played without much fight.\n "The big change with Phil is last year when he went up for a headball, most of the time he'd end up on the ground," Yeagley said. "Now he's getting up and winning them. He's much stronger. He's able to impact the game not just through his skill.\n "He's a smart player, but he had to avoid tussles last year. He didn't get into tussles very much. Now he can get in and win balls and be a ball-winner as well as a skillful player."\nPresser said he thinks his skill is best utilized in the middle.\n"I'm a lot more happy," he said. "I mean, that's where I played my whole life. I got a feel for the game again. When I was out wide, I only had one lane to go to basically.\n"Now I've got every way: Forward, back. Left, right"
(09/22/00 5:32am)
The men's soccer team continued its trend of scoreless first halves Thursday, lasting the first 45 minutes without a goal against Louisville.\nBut the Hoosiers did end a trend of waiting until the game's waning minutes to score.\nIU scored twice in a three-minute span midway through the second half to top the Cardinals 2-0 and improve its record to 5-3.\nThe first goal came off the foot of sophomore midfielder Phil Presser.\nPresser collected the ball 25 yards from goal, looked up, and fired a right-footed shot past Louisville back-up goalkeeper Francis Dumont. The goal was Presser's first of the season and his career.\n"It was fun," Presser said. "Actually, before the game, (teammate) Drew (Shinabarger) came up to me and told me I was going to hit the ball with the outside of my right foot and get a goal. It came true.\n"I'm just going to start shooting more, I guess," he said.\nPresser's goal against Dumont came with 21:05 remaining in game. Dumont entered the game with 8:13 left in the first half, when the Cardinals' starting keeper, Jeremy Morales, was red-carded after an intentional handball just outside the penalty area.\nThe card left Louisville a man down and without the only thing keeping IU from leading the game. Morales stopped several Hoosier opportunities before being sent off, including one would-be goal by Presser 17 minutes into the game.\nDumont had no such luck.\nEarly in the second half, Dumont nearly gave the Hoosiers a goal when he failed to clear the ball. His kick was deflected by IU sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan, who slid and redirected the ball toward the far post. A Louisville defender barely saved the ball from going in.\nPresser's goal came 12 minutes after Dumont's mistake, and IU's second goal came less than three minutes later.\nFreshman forward Lucas Christian carried the ball into the box and was taken down by Cardinal defender Adrian Cann. The referee awarded the Hoosiers a penalty kick, which senior striker Matt Fundenberger converted for the goal.\nThe goal was the 28th of Fundenberger's career, tying him for No. 17 all-time at IU. It was his third of the season.\nThe two quick second half goals showed IU wasn't rusty after not touching a ball since Sunday, when the Hoosiers beat Florida International 1-0. Coach Jerry Yeagley gave the team Monday and Tuesday off, and Wednesday's practice was cancelled because of rain.\n"We weren't worried," Presser said. "We thought it was better because our legs were ready to go out after five games in 10 days. Coach wasn't worried at all. I thought it was better for our legs.\n"But of course, you've got to worry about if our minds are on track and everything."\nThe Hoosiers' minds obviously were on track against the Cardinals.\nWhile the Hoosier offense was clicking, the defense gave one of its best performances of the season. Junior defenders Josh Rife and John Swann and freshman David Prall stopped Louisville from mounting much of an attack. Louisville managed only three shots for the game.\nIU also did a better job than usual of starting its attack out of its defensive third, with Rife often playing balls into the midfield to get IU's offense going.\nThe overall performance was one of IU's best of the season from start to finish.\n"It was just more consistent (Thursday)," Rife said. "As a whole, I thought we showed dominance the full 90 (minutes), which we haven't done in a while. We still have some work to do. We can always be a little sharper. We're just hoping to improve every game."\nYeagley is hoping the Hoosiers do so, as well.\n"I don't want to take away from (Louisville's) team because they are good, but I think (Thursday night) our team did grow up some," Yeagley said. "Hopefully, we can continue it. I felt that after Virginia and Maryland, and we all know what happened after that.\n"So we'll have to see if we can stay off that dipping rollercoaster."\nThe next rollercoaster stop is Sunday, when the Hoosiers open Big Ten play at Michigan State.
(09/18/00 4:52am)
INDIANAPOLIS ' IU's men's soccer teams, traditionally, have several trademarks. One, for example, is that the Hoosiers do not give up many goals.\nThey gave up only 14 last season, and 11 the year before.\n Friday, the Hoosiers went against the norm, giving up four goals in a 4-1 loss to Creighton. The match marked the first time in 238 games, and fifth time ever, that IU has given up four goals in one game.\nCoach Jerry Yeagley gave no excuses; he attributed the four goals to the Bluejays' attack.\n"I want to credit Creighton, first of all," Yeagley said. "They played a very good game. Defensively, they were just swarming all over us. And their two front players, that's as good of an individual performance as I've seen.\n"I mean, we just couldn't handle them. They deserve a lot of the credit."\nCreighton's front runners, Brian Mullan and Mike Tranchilla, deserve a lot of the credit because they created a lot of the chances.\nMullan finished with two goals; Tranchilla assisted on both of Mullan's goals and scored one of his own.\nThe pair opened the scoring 17 minutes into the match. Mullan played a ball to Tranchilla, who beat a defender and played the ball back to Mullan. Mullan collected the pass about 15 yards away from goal, turned left and fired a shot past IU senior goalkeeper T.J. Hannig, despite being covered by several defenders.\nThe shot was Creighton's only one of the first half and one of only six shots on goal that Creighton had.\nThe Bluejays' second goal came 12 minutes into the second half, when Tranchilla beat two IU defenders and sent a shot past a diving Hannig.\nWhile the first and second goals occurred with IU's defense packed into the penalty area, the Hoosiers were spread out for the most part. They didn't play compact defense, which allowed Creighton to win balls in the midfield. \n"I think at times we got a little too spread from the back to the front," Hannig said. "We like to keep the game compact, keep the game in the middle.\n"I think coming from the back, the defenders to the forwards were too spread, giving them a lot of time to move the ball to the midfield and give the play to the frontrunners, the strength of their team."\nThe Hoosiers were also plagued by Creighton's counterattack.\n"They just kept going at us, and we didn't have enough time to get people back," said freshman Matt Ahumada, who started the second half at sweeper. "It was all about the counter attack, really. We dominated, but they made their chances count."\nThe next chance the Bluejays made count was an IU mistake.\nIU junior defender John Swann lost the ball near midfield, cutting Mullan loose for a breakaway. Mullan slid the ball just past Hannig, giving the Bluejays a 3-0 lead.\nThe Hoosiers netted their only goal with 11:17 remaining, when senior forward Matt Fundenberger tucked a shot under the cross bar from just a few yards away.\nCreighton ended any hopes of a comeback shortly thereafter, when Ishmael Mintah scored on a direct kick from 20 yards out. On the restart, Mintah placed the ball over a five-man wall and past Hannig. \n"That's going to happen now and then," said Yeagley of giving up four goals. "Let's hope we got it out of our system (Friday night). But the free kick was a very nice shot. Tranchilla on the one where he beat three people, that was special. The third one, where we turned the ball over, it was our mistake. That one hurt us."\nThe Hoosiers were also hurt by the loss of starting midfielders senior Justin Tauber and sophomore Phil Presser. Neither could play the second half of the game because of shin injuries.\nThat loss, added to the fact the team as a whole didn't play to its potential, opened the door for Creighton's victory.\n"Maybe the flood gates will open for us one of these days," Yeagley said. "I don't know. But we've got to do better, both ends, in all respects. This was not an acceptable performance on our part. But again, Creighton deserves a lot of the credit"
(09/14/00 6:53am)
IU's men's soccer team was as unlucky as possible Wednesday against IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis. The Hoosiers outshot the Jaguars 25-3 but still only managed two goals in a 2-0 victory.\nBoth goals came in the final six minutes of play, with sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan finally giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead with 5:38 remaining. Junior midfielder Ryan Mack got IU an insurance goal just 59 seconds later, tapping in a rebound from just one yard away.\nThe goals came after a night of missed opportunities and great saves by IUPUI junior goalkeeper Armando Fernia.\n"We were trying everything to try to open them up," IU coach Jerry Yeagley said. "I felt we were getting quality chances. But we were shooting too many times from distance against a hot keeper. You know, you just can't … You're not going to beat him unless it's perfect."\nIU finally scored, ironically enough, on a shot that was far from perfect.\nNoonan put on a dribbling clinic near the top of the box before firing a shot on goal. The shot deflected off the back of a defender, hit the far post and bounced back into the goal, nestling in the far side-netting.\n"You think you got one easily, then it deflects," Noonan said. "Then you think it's wide, and it goes in. I didn't have a clue what was going on. But it was good to finally get it. We'll take whatever we can get."\nThe Hoosiers got their second goal shortly after Noonan's, when sophomore forward Michael Bock beat a defender and got a shot off. Fernia deflected the shot right to Mack, who tapped it in for the 2-0 lead.\nIU threatened several more times before the end of the game, including a shot by Noonan that sailed high and a header by junior Tyler Hawley that was saved by Fernia.\nNoonan and the rest of the Hoosier midfield created chances the entire game, dominating the Jaguars in the middle third.\nAs usual, Noonan and Mack created scoring opportunities. Senior midfielder Justin Tauber also had several opportunities, making runs and getting involved in the offense more than usual.\nOne of Tauber's opportunities came with 13 minutes remaining in the first half, when he carried the ball up the middle of the field and fired a shot from just outside the box. The shot caromed off the left post.\nThe play was nearly identical to one made by junior sweeper Josh Rife just nine minutes earlier. Rife carried the ball from just past midfield and sent a rocket off of the right post.\nBoth plays were indicative of how IU's night went ' until Noonan and Mack's goals.\nThe victory improved IU's record to 3-2 and gave the Hoosiers' their first home win this season.\n"We talked before the game how if we would've lost this game, last weekend would mean nothing," Tauber said. "So definitely it was very important for us to get a win, especially with two tough games coming up this weekend.\n"It was very important, just to get over .500 for the first time for the year. It was very important to get a win here and not a tie"