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(10/07/10 5:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was a long walk to the locker room. And sophomore goalkeeper Luis Soffner was taking it alone.Standing halfway to the sidelines, Soffner began to take the walk one slow step at a time — arms bent, hands folded in defeat, his goalie gloves flopped over his buzzed head.With 11 minutes remaining in a 1-1 tie, Notre Dame’s Adam Mena blasted a shot from well beyond the 18. Untouched, the shot drilled past the outstretched 6-foot-4-inch frame of Soffner.Junior forward Will Bruin couldn’t come to the rescue this time. He couldn’t equalize the score like he had 23 minutes into the first half, and IU dropped its decision for the fourth time this season.“We did some very good things the first half,” IU coach Todd Yeagley said. “I thought we were the better team by far in all the measures that we’re trying to get better at. We just couldn’t get that second (goal).”The goal they did score was No. 8 for Bruin this season.“Andy (Adlard) hit an early cross-in, and I don’t know if the goalie bobbled it or got thrown off,” Bruin said. “I saw him not handle it. The ball just bounced to me, and I just took a touch and put it in the open net. It was pretty easy to me.”While the first half was intense and full of quick passes, the second half seemed to drag. Only seven combined shots were taken in the second half.“That’s where the game started to change for us,” Yeagley said. “We lost midfield. We looked a little more down. Yet I think Notre Dame started to find their groove about the same time we started losing some footing. They got hot at the right time of the game and made a key play. That was somewhat the tale of tonight.”Another part of the tale was IU’s three fouls to Notre Dame’s 14. It was the same story as IU’s Sept. 10 loss to Cal Poly. The Hoosiers had finished that game with only two fouls to their opponent’s 15.“This group is never going to be a statistical leader in that category,” Yeagley said. “It’s not within this team, but we know we have to be tougher. ...It’s not a stat I’m enjoying to see, but it’s one the team is aware of.”As the second half progressed, IU moved the ball out of the middle, playing more end-to-end, after the Irish’s second goal while looking to take the game to overtime.In the 85th minute, junior midfielder Chris Estridge took his second shot of the evening from the south baseline. The ball flew above a sea of red and white jerseys. Estridge said he thought for sure it was going in.But an Irishman got in the way.“The defender like six or seven yards away stuck his arm out, what looked to be his elbow, and it looked like it deflected away,” Estridge said. “I was sure it was a handball.”No call came, and five minutes later, the long walk to the locker room began.“Tonight was another story where it was tough to give up a soft goal and play a team for a large majority and not come up with a result,” Yeagley said. “You look at the players’ faces, and they’re really upset. I told them, ‘We’ve got half the season left. You’ve got to get up and get ready for the next fight.’ That’s what we’re learning: how to deal with adversity, learn from it and move on and be strong. We’ll continue to preach that.”
(10/06/10 1:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men's soccer team lost 2-1 to Notre Dame on Wednesday. Stay tuned to idsnews.com for more on the Hoosiers' loss.
(09/27/10 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Time was winding down, and the Penn State fans in the bleachers were likely on the edge of their seats, ready to count down the last 10 seconds of regulation.All they needed was for the number on the scoreboard to tick off one more digit.But IU junior forward Will Bruin didn’t feel like going into overtime.At least that’s what he joked after the game.“I knew time was winding down, but I didn’t realize how much time was left,” Bruin said.Only 11 seconds remained.After 89 minutes and 48 seconds of play — the point where most teams give up and take a 2-2 score into overtime — Bruin drove forward.The junior’s fourth shot of the game hit the back of the net to give IU the 3-2 victory and its first win of the Big Ten season Friday against the No. 20 Nittany Lions. The goal was Bruin’s sixth of 2010.“You could tell we had a lot of fight tonight, and we stuck in it,” Bruin said.Play the full 90. That’s what IU coach Todd Yeagley has stressed this season.The Hoosiers listened to their coach, scoring early.Freshman midfielder Nikita Kotlov gave IU the initial edge when he scored his second goal of the season eight minutes into the game.Kotlov then helped fellow freshman midfielder Harrison Petts score his first goal as a Hoosier. Kotlov kicked Petts a split pass just outside the box in the 78th minute.“The defender kind of dove in too early, and I took a touch past him,” Petts said.While Bruin, reminiscing back two years, described the act of getting one’s first goal as a monkey off the back, Petts was more relaxed about the whole idea.“I’ve been kind of unlucky,” Petts said. “I’ve hit the crossbar a couple times and earlier in the game tonight, I had one clear off the line that was probably a handball. It was going to come. It was just a matter of time. I was just glad to get it tonight so I could help my team get back in the game and eventually win.”The rest of the Hoosier squad was eager to score as well, taking 13 shots — seven on goal — to give the team its first Friday victory of the season and its first burst of the .500 bubble. IU is now 4-3-0 in the regular season and 1-0-0 in the Big Ten.“That’s a good team and a tough place to play historically and a great way to start the Big Ten season — 1-0 on the road against arguably one of the top teams in our league and in the country for that matter,” Yeagley said. “This was a good Penn State game.”
(09/24/10 3:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three weekends have come and gone.Six games — three Friday losses, three Sunday wins — leave the men’s soccer team on an even playing field.This Friday the team takes another shot at getting past the .500 bubble.But this time, they won’t have a Sunday game to even the score if Friday doesn’t go as planned.Senior midfielder Rich Balchan said a Friday game doesn’t matter to them. It could be a Saturday, Tuesday or Wednesday match-up for all they care.The Hoosiers are just looking forward to bringing the energy to the first Big Ten game of the season against Penn State at State College, Pa.“There’s been a lot of energy at practice knowing that Big Ten season is starting,” Balchan said. “I expect the energy to be really high, and I expect the effort to be relentless.”With an 83-12-9 record in Big Ten matches, IU historically does well in conference play. After a 3-3 regular season finish in the Big Ten last year, the Hoosiers are ready for a clean slate.“Every year we’re excited to get into the Big Ten season, and we know in order to win the conference, we have to win the regular season to get a No. 1 seed going in the tournament and get a bye,” Balchan said. “We always know how important it is to win Big Ten games.”IU coach Todd Yeagley knows how important it is to have Balchan return after he missed the first three games of the season with an ankle injury and said he is glad to have the versatile and talented player back on the pitch.“The good fortune is that he will be used in a lot of spots,” Yeagley said. “He’s an excellent defender and one that can help our tact, so wherever we end up using him this weekend, he strengthens our team. Plus, people have a little extra bounce in their step when they look over and see Rich running next to them. He’s a positive influence in a lot of ways.”The Nittany Lions enter the match 5-1, with a junior goalkeeper who has compiled four shutouts and 19 saves.“If they were 4-2 or 3-3, we’d still evaluate what their strengths and weaknesses are,” Yeagley said. “They’re a confident group. At 5-1 you’ve obviously had some things go well for you.”While the importance of Big Ten games hasn’t changed. Yeagley said the strength of the conference has progressed, and his team will be pumped and ready to go for the first conference game of the 2010 season.“The team knows that through the history of the league we’ve been the top program,” Yeagley said. “Whether that’s through titles or through winning percentage, the players do know that, and they take a lot of pride in that. Our goal is to get IU back to the top of the Big Ten where we have found ourselves more often than not. That’s going to take really good performances and an unbelievable amount of focus and discipline in each of those games.”
(09/21/10 3:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Failure to Finish ‘Em Fridays and Soarin’ to Success Sundays could be two ways to define the IU men’s soccer team’s weekend results this season.Then again, IU coach Todd Yeagley is OK with the three straight Friday losses.“We’re aware of the results on the Fridays,” Yeagley said. “Our performances have been certainly pretty good, some very good and others not up to standard. ...We’ve all been there on Friday. It just hasn’t gone our way on those nights with results.“There’s no story to it in the sense of the guys are prepared. They’re ready. It just happens to be that we’re 3-3, and it just happened to play out that way.”So, maybe Friday games could be defined as learning games, and Sunday contests could be taking what was learned on Friday and applying it — at least that’s what history shows.In their first game of the season on Sept. 3, the Hoosiers lost to California, 2-1, on a golden goal score in overtime. The following Sunday, IU beat then-No. 5 UCLA, 5-1, with a hat trick by junior forward Will Bruin.The next Friday, Sept. 10, IU played like a can of pop that lost its fizz in a 1-0 loss to Cal Poly with the lone goal coming in the 83rd minute. Two days later, the Hoosiers shut out Drake, 2-0. This past weekend, IU dropped below .500 with a loss to Brown when a goal with less than eight minutes remaining put the Bears ahead. The cream and crimson turned around for a 2-1 win against Massachusetts on Sunday.“It’s not a very good habit to get into,” Adlard said. “It has happened. This is the third time. Fortunately, we have been able to bounce back on Sunday and win.”The Hoosiers now will have to deal with midweek matches as they have no more Friday-and-Sunday weekend series for the rest of the season.“I told the team we very easily could be 6-0 now,” Yeagley said. “Performance wise we’ve been the better or equal against every opponent we’ve played in the way you measure the game — possession, quality, quality of chances, chances given up. ...We’re still learning. The adversity that we’ve faced in different ways, whether it be in a result or how we’re playing is going to help us as we still make the journey this season.”
(09/20/10 3:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sophomore Caleb Konstanski is tired of the way his team’s weekend performances have been starting out.“It gets frustrating,” Konstanski said about the Hoosiers’ third straight Friday loss.This time, it was a 2-1 decision to Brown that senior midfielder Andy Adlard said was a result of a couple of mistakes that started off the weekend.On Sunday, No. 24 IU brought its season record back to .500 with a win against Massachusetts. IU is now 3-3.On Friday, Adlard was the lone scorer for IU. He finished the night with five shots, two of which were on goal.“Friday we came out very well in the first half,” Adlard said. “We were dominating and had a few chances. The game went on, and the other team kind of stepped up a bit, and it became more of a battle. We just had two stupid mistakes that cost us. We learned how to be smart with making mistakes, and we learned from them.”Junior forward Will Bruin, the team’s leading scorer, was held to a single shot on Friday. But it wasn’t just Bruin’s low shot total that left the Hoosiers with a losing record at the end of the night.“Defensively we made a few errors and mental mistakes, and they capitalized on them,” Konstanski said. “Mistakes that Brown made, we weren’t able to capitalize on. They capitalized on two of our mistakes, and they got the win.”On Sunday, the defense worked to make fewer mistakes. Bruin took four shots — one which went in for his fifth goal on the season — and Adlard scored his second goal of the weekend to give IU the victory. Even though IU took the game, the playing conditions of Rudd Field weren’t what the team was used to.“The grass is long,” Adlard said. “The field is very slow, so it was tough to actually play like we like to play where we pass it around and move the ball really quickly because the field was just so slow. It was getting caught up in the grass so therefore the ball was kicked long a lot and we were just playing kickball more. It just became a battle.”Eight IU players combined for 14 shots in what Konstanski called an away game that wasn’t pretty.“Today was a lot like a high school game where you just get the ball and you dump it,” Konstanski said. “The field conditions weren’t what we’re used to. The style that they play is not what we’re used to seeing.“The ball was in the air a lot. When you feed the ball in the air like that there’s going to be a lot of fouls because a lot of people are going to be going up for 50-50 balls. It was an ugly soccer game.”There were 29 fouls in the game, 15 of them committed by the Hoosiers. But for IU, it was another win — one that brought the team back even with their number of losses.“It felt good to get a victory to today,” Konstanski said. “We’ve outplayed every team we played this season. We could easily be 6-0, but right now we’re 3-3 because we’ve given up some late goals. We’re going to learn from that, and we’re going to move on from this victory.”
(09/17/10 8:08pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Little 500 is more than the largest collegiate bicycle race in America. It is more than the biggest intramural event on the IU campus. It is more than a great college weekend.Little 500 is the event that turns men and women into riders and IU students into Hoosiers.According to the IU Student Foundation’s Web site, the Little 500 is the biggest intramural event at IU. It is also the largest collegiate bike race in the United States. Every year, riders compete in four-person teams in separate races for men and women around a quarter-mile track. IUSF coordinates Little 500 every year.More than 25,000 people attend the races each year, with the proceeds used for working student scholarships at IU. More than $35,000 was given away in scholarships in 2008.Modeling the event after the motor race that takes place 56 miles away at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Howdy Wilcox, then-executive director of the Indiana University Student Foundation, founded the Little 500 race in 1951, 32 years after his father won the Indianapolis 500.Similar to the traditions of kissing the sidewalk and drinking cold milk that accompany the Indy 500, the Little 500 is full of the traditions of mounting Schwinns and crashing on Turn Three.“I mean, it’s more than just an intramural sport,” Delta Tau Delta rider Nick Lenard said. “It’s you representing your house ... and your friends, and you’re showing what you’ve done the entire year. It’s a pretty big competition. It’s more than just a race. It’s the experience.”Along with the experience, Alpha Omicron Pi rider Lauren Wells said Little 500 means becoming more involved on campus. 2010 marks the 60th running for the men’s race and the 23rd running for the women’s race. “The history is cool, and it’s obviously one of the long-standing traditions here at Indiana University,” Grey Goat Cycling rider Brian Holthouse said. “For a school to participate in something that is 60 years old with alumni that have performed before you and the traditions that surround the race ... is really cool.” Riders compete on teams of four, equipped with one student coach, an experienced coach and a mechanical team. Thirty-three greek-affiliated and independent teams qualify through trials to compete in the main race, which Holthouse said is an indescribable experience.“You work all year and you show up and it just flies by so fast,” Holthouse said. “One minute the race has started, and then you’re already on the last 20 laps and you’re trying to figure out who’s going to make a move and when. It’s really beyond words.”Riders typically train for the race about six days a week. Wells said training for Little 500 is like any other athlete training for their sport to prevent injuries.Some say the riders who compete in Little 500 are nuts, but Lenard said all athletes are crazy.“It can be pretty boring day to day,” he said. “The good athletes have to be crazy about it.”
(09/13/10 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There’s a college soccer standard. Then there’s the IU soccer standard.A 1-0 loss to Cal Poly in which the Hoosiers admitted having no rhythm contributed to a poor performance — not the IU soccer standard.A shutout win against Drake including quick passes between IU players and domination of possession — the IU soccer standard.“It’s the standard that they’ve created by their play,” IU coach Todd Yeagley said. “We had a very bad performance against Xavier, and we came back and had a very good performance against Duke preseason. So this was a first regular season subpar and today that was a dominant performance, and we controlled the game in every aspect that you want to.”But Friday’s game against Cal Poly was a different story.No. 18 IU spent 82 tireless minutes on the pitch before Cal Poly’s Chris Bernardi took a shot inside the 18 past a standing IU sophomore goalkeeper Luis Soffner in the left edge of the goal. The shot sailed past Soffner, untouched and into the right corner of the net, for the only goal of the game. “From the very first whistle, we never found our rhythm,” senior midfielder Cam Jordan said. “We kind of just let them linger around. When you let a team linger around long enough, they’re going to get one.”It wasn’t that IU didn’t have its chances. The Hoosiers took 16 shots, seven of which were on goal. Junior forward Will Bruin still led the team in shots and shots on goal with six and three, respectively. For IU, the ball was either inches from the goal — as it was in the 21st minute when freshman midfielder Harrison Petts drilled the ball from just beyond the six, only to be stopped right in front of the box by Cal Poly’s goalkeeper’s chest — or it couldn’t get beyond the 18 for the threat of a Hoosier score.Cal Poly’s back four put a clamp on Bruin and the IU offense, but Yeagley attributed the loss to more than Cal Poly’s defensive strength.“The stat that jumps out is we had two fouls,” Yeagley said. “We weren’t tough today. That’s a little bit of tell-tale sign right there. “When you walk away with two fouls in a game, you’re not anticipating. You’re not getting the second ball. You’re not fighting. You get in enough duals, you’ll get called for a foul. That stat says a lot right there.”Cal Poly had 15 fouls.So what did IU gain from its Friday loss?“I don’t know if it’s going to happen very often, if ever again,” junior midfielder Alec Purdie said about the team’s flat play. “When you have games like that, there’s so much you can learn from them. It was a bit of a fluke and a bit of a learning experience.”IU was back to aggressive play against Drake on Sunday, accumulating seven fouls and collaborating for eight shots on goal and Soffner’s first shutout win of the season, 2-0.Just past the 30-minute mark, Bruin charged toward the goal, surrounded by the blue jerseys of Drake defenders. Bruin was pushed, sliding face first towards the goal. Penalty kick.Senior midfielder Andy Adlard scored his second penalty kick goal of the season to put IU on the board.Headers from Bruin and shots from Purdie came close to the net, but it wasn’t until the 70th minute, when a pass from Bruin allowed freshman midfielder Nikita Kotlov to bring Drake’s goalie from the box and pull a shot around his right side for IU’s second and final score. IU took 31 total shots against Drake.“Thirty-one shots is a high number,” Yeagley said. “On one side, you’re really pleased that we’re creating these chances. We just need to have a little more sophistication, a little more composure whether it’s the final pass or just the finish itself. The positive is that you create in those chances. If you’re getting five to six shots a game, you’re having new problems.”
(09/11/10 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The men’s soccer team played flat in the first round of the Mike Berticelli Tournament, losing 1-0 to Cal Poly.For 82 minutes, neither team could score.It wasn't until Cal Poly’s Chris Bernardi took a shot inside the 18 past a standing Luis Soffner, IU's sophomore goalkeeper, in the left edge of the goal. The shot sailed past Soffner – untouched and into the right corner of the net for the only goal of the game.“From the very first whistle, we never found our rhythm,” senior midfielder Cameron Jordan said. “We kind of just let them linger around…When you let a team linger around long enough, they’re going to get one."It wasn’t that IU didn’t have its chances. The Hoosiers took 16 shots, seven of which were on goal.IU junior forward Will Bruin still led the team in shots and shots on goal, six and three respectively.For IU, the ball was either inches from the goal – like it was in the 25th minute when freshman Harrison Petts drilled the ball from just beyond the six towards the net, only to be stopped right in front of the box by Cal Poly’s goalkeepers chest – or it could get beyond the 18.Cal Poly’s back four put a clamp on Will Bruin and the IU offense, but IU coach Todd Yeagley contributes the loss to more than Cal Poly’s defensive strength.“Their back four was pretty good,” Yeagley said. “Our performance was poor.”Last weekend, the Hoosiers easily defeated then-No. 5 UCLA, but their drive to win the ball did not translate as well in South Bend.“The stat that jumps out is we had two fouls,” Yeagley said. “We weren’t tough today. … That’s a little bit of tell-tale sign right there.“When you walk away with two fouls in a game, you’re not anticipating. You’re not getting the second ball. You’re not fighting. You get in enough duals you’ll get called for a foul. That stat says a lot right there.”Cal Poly had 15 fouls.IU junior Tyler McCarroll earned his first start, playing the full 90 minutes.Senior Rich Balchan didn’t make the trip to South Bend and senior Daniel Kelly didn’t dress – both are trying to recover from nagging injuries.Two key players out of the Hoosier line up could have been the cause of the IU shutout, but Yeagley said it wasn’t any one players performance – or lack thereof – that gave the Hoosiers their first road loss of the season.“We had some players who didn’t perform well, freshman and seniors,” Yeagley said. “It was a collective performance. We weren’t sharp or in-sync. For a team that’s been pretty well in-sync to start this year, that’s disappointing.”
(09/10/10 2:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Todd Yeagley’s senior year — in 1994 — was the last time IU faced Drake in a regular season game.Sixteen years later, the new IU coach and his team will play Drake in the Mike Berticelli Tournament on Sunday in South Bend. Those 16 years in between, though, aren’t something Yeagley wants to talk about.“These guys don’t need to hear the history,” Yeagley said. “They hear enough about the old days.”Luckily for the Hoosier squad, there is some current history between the No. 18 Hoosiers and the No. 22 Bulldogs.In 2009, IU opened up their preseason matches with a 2-1 loss to Drake.“Some of these upperclassman are like, ‘Yeah we remember that game,’” Yeagley said. “They’re a little bit upset because we lost to them. There’s a little extra motivation from last year’s preseason.”Senior Andy Adlard is one of those upperclassmen.“They were very blue collared, fight-hard team, so we’re going to have to be ready for a fight against them,” Adlard said. “We know the game this week isn’t going to be as open and free-flowing. It’s going to be a lot more Big Ten style, where it’s fight hard, get into tackles. We’re trying to get the mindset that it’s going to be like that.”Before IU faces Drake, the Hoosiers will meet up with a new opponent, Cal Poly from San Luis Obispo, Calif. on Friday.“Cal Poly is a team that’s a very good team out west,” Yeagley said. “They’re hardworking, and they’re disciplined, and they have some guys that can break you down. Yet we can’t lose sight on where we need to go as a group and how every game is its own chapter within this journey.”The two chapters written by IU so far have been a season-opening loss and an upset of No. 5 UCLA for a win. Both Cal Poly and IU enter the game with a 1-1 record.“We’re all trying to fight for that 2-1 spot,” Adlard said. “We’re all looking for those results. It’ll be good if we can get two results this weekend, no matter how we get them, but we do want to play well.”Something the Hoosiers struggled with last season was scoring goals in the first half. IU scored in the first half of only four times during their regular season games.Last weekend IU scored three first half goals, which is something Adlard said the team has put an emphasis on.“We’ve just been doing some stuff to get sharp on the final pass in the final third, to get our chances and score some,” Adlard said. “It’s paying off.”Coming off that five-goal win over UCLA on Sunday, the team is trying to keep their emotions intact.“I was pleased with the way the group has handled that big win on Sunday,” Yeagley said. “It’s a good win. We enjoyed it, learned from it, but it’s not going to entitle us to anything on Friday, and they know that.”
(09/07/10 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>New IU men’s soccer coach Todd Yeagley won his first game with the Hoosiers this past weekend as IU defeated No. 5 UCLA 5-1 Sunday. Here’s a look at Yeagley’s young coaching career.FourTimes Yeagley was named an All-American (1991-1994)75Wins Yeagley had during his four seasons as an IU athleteThreeBig Ten titles Yeagley earned as a player (1991, ’92 and ’94)40Assists during his IU career, third on the all-time listOneSeason at Wisconsin coaching the Badgers544More wins until he breaks the most wins by a Division I soccer coach, a record held by his father and former IU coach Jerry Yeagley.SevenYears he suited up in a Columbus Crew jerseyThreeChildren of Todd and his wife Suzy — four-year-old Jay, seven-year-old Grant and nine-year-old BenOneLoss and win he has as head coach in BloomingtonOne-on-one with YeagleyIDS: 544 more wins to beat your dad in an Indiana jersey, but how did the first one feel?Yeagley: The first one felt good. When you give me those stats, I’m not a big fan of those stats. I think as a staff we’ve done a good job of just trying to maintain the moment of each game. I know that might sound cliche, but you have to when you’re in my position. You have to take it each day. We’re trying to get this culture where we’re at our best and when you have that, you find you win more games, which is bottom line, and players understand that. I enjoy history and looking at things, but...I’m not keeping that stat going. You’d certainly like to rack up as many wins as you can, but he’s in a special category and one that I think will be there for a long, long time.
(09/06/10 3:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Can Will Bruin count to three in another language?Who knows.But he sure knows how to do so in soccer.The junior forward shot his way to his first collegiate hat trick with seven shots, six on goal.“It started off with a garbage goal,” Bruin said.No. 20 IU scored its most goals since its Oct. 19, 2005 victory against Butler in upsetting No. 5 UCLA 5-1. The victory was Todd Yeagley’s first win as head coach in Bloomington.“It’s tough to say 5-1’s not a statement,” junior forward Alec Purdie said. “I think it is.”But the weekend wasn’t all celebration.On Friday, after 90 minutes of quick passes and possession domination and another 10 of conservative play, IU slipped up with four minutes remaining in the second overtime period, losing its season opener at home to California, 2-1.California’s Davis Paul scored the game-winning goal Friday. After the win, California created a dog-pile celebration. One Bear even hopped on one leg all the way out to the six to join in.Just beyond the pile stood IU sophomore goalkeeper Luis Soffner — his wingspan in full stretch.Soffner was not happy with the goal — not only because it cost his team the game, but also because Soffner believed California was offsides.He wasn’t alone.“Three or four of our players thought that both the first ball and the second ball were offsides,” Yeagley said.But no call was made, and that was the game.Yeagley, Bruin and Purdie all agreed the team didn’t play as well as their Friday performance, but IU executed better Sunday.“The scoreboard doesn’t always show the right emphasis, like we controlled the game Friday,” Bruin said. “We just didn’t put our chances away then, but all the goals came today.”Yeagley, Bruin and Purdie also said the turning point came with senior Andy Adlard’s penalty kick. The kick came 31 seconds after UCLA tied the score 1-1.“Right when they scored, I was a little disappointed with some of the body language with our team,” Yeagley said. “I saw Will and a few others like ‘Let’s Go.’”The Hoosiers compiled 22 shots Friday and 13 Sunday. On Sunday, the assists and goals were made mainly by upperclassmen Purdie, Bruin and Adlard.While the two juniors and senior, respectively, aren’t the three closest friends off the field, they know how to work together during a game.“We know the runs each other make,” Purdie said. “We know where we like the ball to be. It’s not so much the chemistry off the field, it’s just that we know each other on the field so well.”The chemistry of the team has also already changed from the 1-1 weekend.“Everybody’s buying in and believing now,” Bruin said. “We know we had it. We didn’t get the result Friday. We got the result now, so everybody knows what we can do on the field, and we’re going to go on and do it every game here on out.”
(09/04/10 7:51pm)
The first game of Todd Yeagley’s head coaching career for IU soccer just wasn’t meant to be.
(09/03/10 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In 2009, former IU coach Mike Freitag tried to get his players to understand that they had to play the full 90 minutes.This season, IU coach Todd Yeagley has his team focused on the fact that the game is only 90 minutes.“It’s only an hour and a half of playing,” junior forward Will Bruin said. “So, it’s hard work while you’re out there so the feeling afterwards will definitely be worth the work you put in.”Just 90 minutes. It’s just a little bit longer than sitting through a lecture, except there’s running involved.The men’s soccer team will devote 90 minutes at 7:30 p.m. Friday against California and another 90 minutes at 2 p.m. Sunday against UCLA at Bill Armstrong Stadium in the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.The game will mark freshman Nikita’s Kotlov’s first 90 minutes in a real college soccer game — a game that actually matters in the record books, that is.“I’m excited to have my first game at IU that’s not preseason,” Kotlov said. “Hopefully I’m not too nervous.”The 5-foot-9 midfielder from Indianapolis knows the time on the field this weekend is important to a fresh start for IU soccer.“Indiana has probably the best soccer reputation,” Kotlov said. “I just want to keep that going throughout the years.”Yeagley’s first focus is the game against California. He said he is more excited than nervous for his first regular season game as head coach in Bloomington.“We want to allow a fire but be calm at the same time, and that needs to come from our staff, too,” Yeagley said. “It’s going to be a fire but one that plays under control and knows that every moment is important out there. Truly with this weekend, there is a special feeling.”The Hoosiers have limited scouting information on California because the season has just begun.“Every team you play your first game against you typically don’t know much about,” Yeagley said. “Cal’s a team that’s been a tournament team regularly. We don’t know much about Cal this early, but we do know they’re going to be very well organized.”Yeagley said UCLA, the No. 5-ranked team on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, might have the most talent going forward of any team in the country.“They are a perennial power year in year out,” he said. “When you talk about soccer and you mention powerhouses, UCLA is in everyone’s first conversation.”The seven stars that curve around the IU soccer logo show that the Hoosiers were once also mentioned in the powerhouse conversation. For now, they’ll take each game as it comes — 90 minutes at a time.“Instead of putting together bits and pieces for the 90 minutes, we have to put together the full 90 on the field,” Bruin said.
(09/02/10 4:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There’s a story of a man named Yeagley who began building a soccer legacy all on his own.Yeagley’s son watched him coach to six national titles, but the future of the son was not known.’Til this one day last December when the son of Yeagley became the coach at B-town in a crunch. Now Todd Yeagley and his team are a soccer family; that’s the way they all became the Yeagley Bunch.On a field just north of campus, a new era of IU soccer begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Eighteen returning faces, two transfers and 10 true freshmen will have a new start but will be on a quest for an old title.Big Ten Champions. College Cup Qualifiers. National Champions.A season after one of the worst finishes in the program’s history with a final record of 12-10-1, the IU men’s soccer team kicks off its season against California. But the field and the sideline will be stocked with 10 new freshmen and one new coach that the Hoosier Nation is about to meet.IDS Of the entire team, who would you say is the comedian? Kerel Bradford Tyler McCarroll. He says funny stuff, but he has a serious face on all the time.IDS If the whole team were to go on a vacation together, where would you go and why?Harrison Petts The Bahamas to visit Ambry’s (Moss) hometown.IDS What’s something random about Coach Yeagley that nobody knows about?Taylor Reeves He’s a big fan of Glee — the TV show. IDS Does the team ever give him any crap?Reeves I don’t think really anyone knows.IDS What’s one thing that your teammates would be surprised to know about you?Dylan Lax I have a pet ferret named Mia. It’s a girl. I’ve had it for about five or six years.IDS Who’d you say is the big brother of the team?Nikita Kotlov I guess Harrison because he’s my roommate, and he’s like a girl, so he doesn’t really do anything.IDS What’s your favorite meal to grab with your teammates?Ambry Moss Anything at the Yeagley house is amazing.IDS If you had to pick two members of the team that you had to spend a month with just living in a house, who would it be?Blake Wise Kerel Bradford because he always makes me laugh. He’s a goofy kid. Then Ryan (Bristol) because he’s the ice breaker with the ladies. Anybody a really good cook besides cereal or Pop-tarts or Easy Mac? I make a mean Easy Mac. IDS Is there a show that you and your teammates ever watch when you’re hanging out?Ryan Bristol Children’s Hospital on Adult Swim because it’s just awesome. It’s boss.IDS If the team were to all go out and get a pet, what would the pet’s name be? Jacob Bushue Nikita. Because Nikita is like our little pet on the team. We have to groom him, keep him in shape, get him to class, get him a suitcase.IDS Of your teammates, who most reminds you of one of your siblings or who would you consider most like a sibling?Matt McKain I’d say Kerel. He’s always got your back. He’s just a real nice guy.IDS What kind of genre would you put this team under if it were a TV show?YEAGLEY I think it would be like a hospital drama with some good comedy in there. I think that would be the feel of it.IDS If the freshman all had to live together in one house – would it be like the Brady Bunch or MTV Real World?YEAGLEY I think it would be a little bit more like MTV Real World. Not a wild bunch, but a pretty ecletic group I think is the best way to describe it. I’d say personality wise, this is about as diverse of a group as you’re gonna find – in a good way. The real World I don’t watch to much, but it’s a pretty interesting group of personalities, but we definitely have some that would star in the Brady Bunch.
(09/02/10 4:13am)
The IU men’s soccer team kicks off its season against California Friday, but
the field and the sideline will be stocked with 10 new freshmen and one
new coach that the Hoosier Nation is about to meet.
(04/29/10 4:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before he was a cyclist, Eric Young was a runner. Now, Young sprints — but with a Schwinn bicycle around the Bill Armstrong Stadium cinder track, often creating a gap between his back wheel and the field behind him.Before Young became a member of the heralded Cutters team, the Illinois native had never heard of the race that so many in the cycling world covet. Young, though, learned quickly upon his arrival in Bloomington of the Little 500. He looked at the results from the previous year’s race, and his current team, the Cutters, had won. Young called them and asked if he could be a member of their team. A dynasty was born.But before he became part of history for a team that has now scored four straight Little 500 victories, Young never thought he would cross the finish line of the biggest collegiate cycling race first, let alone two years in a row. He was just never that guy.Now he is that guy — the rider that fans and the media talk about, write about and debate about.But Young sees himself as just a guy who has won a bike race.“I understand that whatever, the Little 5 is pretty crazy and winning four in a row and I crossed the line first twice in a row, that it’s pretty cool and pretty extraordinary, but I don’t know,” Young said, his voice trailing the longer he talked. “From my perspective I’ve never been really good at anything, like excellent at anything before, so it’s kind of weird to me that people make a big deal about it.”Young has been the Cutters’ go-to rider to finish for the last two Little 500 titles. He went from a category-three rider to a category-two rider this week, but he will still be allowed to compete in his final Little 500 in 2011.So far, Young hasn’t broken a single rule, at least according to IU Student Foundation standards.IUSF’s Little 500 Rules of Eligibility Section II.I states that a student with no cycling experience prior to attending IU can participate in the Little 500 and can upgrade to a category-one or -two rider for only a year. That rider must ride with their team from the previous year..Next year is Young’s final Little 500, and he will ride for the Cutters.But is it really fair that a category-two rider, considered around the cycling community as a semi-pro, is allowed to ride in a collegiate intramural event?The 1995 Little 500 champion and Phi Gamma Delta rider Dave Harstad rode in a similar scenario a little more than a decade ago. During his sophomore year in 1993, Harstad witnessed two incredible category-two riders at the Little 500 track: Ben Sharp of Cinzano and Todd Hancock of Delta Chi.“Those guys were so fast,” Harstad said. “When you can ride guys off your wheel on a flat course it’s just too much speed. It wasn’t safe or fun for many of the participants.”The inequality among the field is why Harstad said he still supports the category-two ban, which went into effect in 1995.“When category-two’s are in the race, I think you run the risk that the event will devolve into an ugly thing where non-category-two teams are basically forced to team up and chase down every burn-out by teams with elite riders,” he said. “And that won’t be fun for anyone.”The 1997 champion and former Cutter rider Chris Wojtowich did not ride in the Little 500 just for fun. In 2000, he lapped the field. He said he thinks it takes much more than being a category-two rider to win the Little 500.When Young first came to IU, he was not a bike rider. In fact, Michael Schroeder was the only member of the Cutters who rode before coming to IU.Wojtowich said everyone on campus had the same opportunity to become just as good a bike rider as Young did.“People have spent their entire college career focusing on this event, and their dreams should not be taken away from them because they trained too hard and got too good at it,” he said. “I don’t even think it’s an intramural sport. I know it’s called that, but it’s one of the biggest cycling races in the world.”“I truly believe that anyone should be allowed to race as long as they attend IU as a student. Anybody. Even if he was a professional and he could ride for any team. He doesn’t have to ride for the Cutters — he could ride for a fraternity. I want the best competition possible when I’m racing because that way I can know I’ve beat the best.”Sharp was one of the best in 1993. Now, he coaches the best as Junior Programs Manager at USA Cycling. He came to IU as a category-three rider. At the end of his junior year, he upgraded to category one. He was prevented from riding his senior year because, at the time, riders couldn’t race in category-one competitions and compete in the Little 500.“If the rider is in good standing with the University, there’s no reason that he shouldn’t be able to ride,” Sharp said. “Everyone else has the same opportunity to work their way up through the ranks. I don’t know who Eric Young is ... but it doesn’t make sense to me that a kid who’s going to school and getting good grades and doing everything that he’s supposed to do can’t participate in his college’s event.”Pam Loebig, director of the race, is not looking at raising the ban on category-two riders. Loebig said she feels the people who are using Young as a target are also using his decision to go category two against him.“I think they’re looking for something or rationalize of why Cutters have won four years in a row,” Loebig said. “I think the rule is exactly how it should be. The Cutters are sticking by the rules; they don’t have athletes who are ineligible. They aren’t pushing the limits on what they’re allowed to do. They just want it more than everyone else.”But some Little 500 fanatics are still trying to figure out where the amateur is in the intramural event.“It is an intramural event, but you can’t compare it to any other intramural event out there,” Loebig said. “The purpose of it is to raise money for working student scholarships on the Bloomington campus and to be part of the Indiana University tradition to bring students in ... giving them a community ... where they can feel connected to the university and understand that the bigger picture of why they’re here and what they can get out of it.”Young is not trying to gloat the glory of winning the Little 500 to the 32 other teams on the field. He’s actually embarrassed by being good. In two months of racing last summer, Young won three USA Cycling events, according to USA Cycling’s results.“I don’t know. A lot,” Young said about the number he actually won. “This sounds bad saying it, but I win.”A majority of the races he rode in, he won.“Aw man ... that sounds so bad but yes,” he said. But Young declines to give the exact number.“I mean that’s because it’s weird,” he said about not giving the number. “I don’t know. It is weird to stand out.”But the Monday after the race for the past two years, Young has graced the front page of the newspaper distributed across campus. Even that to him is too much.“It would be probably weird to you, too,” Young said. “If you go from people not talking to you for papers or anything like that to one week a year everybody knows who you are, it’s kind of weird.”So this newly turned category-two rider has the Little 500 world bursting at the seams about a ban that went into effect 15 years ago. Some people praise him, other people hate him, but he said he’s just like any double-major in biology and neuroscience who studies and likes to hang out with his friends and his teammates.“All the guys on the team and the people associated with the team, we’re all very passionate about learning about Little 5,” Young said. “That’s what college is really for, it’s about learning about things, learning about yourself and preparing you for whatever life you want to lead afterward.”
(04/26/10 3:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Within minutes the riders were soaked, their gritty faces covered with cinders, making them look like battle-hardened warriors fighting for survival in the race of their lives.Black Key Bulls rider Jordan Bailey described it as “epic.” Phi Gamma Delta rider David Ellis said it showed who wasn’t going to quit until the finish line. Phi Delta Theta rider Nick Sovinski said he could have done without the wet cinders in his eyes.All 33 teams on the field had to fight through pouring rain and changing track conditions.“At the beginning, the track was probably the fastest it’s been all year because it had rained earlier and they had packed it real nice,” Cutters rider Michael Schroeder said. “I was out there as it started to get pretty heavy, and the gear just got really big. It was like riding through wet sand. The turns were a bit loose, but it wasn’t too bad.”Through downpours, thunder and lightning, the 32 other teams of the 60th running of the Men’s Little 500 were unable to hold off another Cutters victory.Riders had been informed last Tuesday that the men’s race could officially be ruled complete if a red flag was waved after lap 101. Little 500 race director Pam Loebig said that part of the rain rule also states that if it’s past 100 laps, IUSF will do everything they can to complete the race on the same day.Therefore, when the race was paused after lap 104, Cutters thought the championship was in hand.“We’d spent a lot of time before the race talking to officials trying to figure out what exactly occurs when they drop the red flag,” Schroeder said. “As far as we had understood it, when it’s past 101 the race is over — so that’s kind of what contributed to us thinking we had won the first time.”Loebig said, though, that officials were able to get the track back to riding conditions.“We were watching the radar closely, postponed the race until the green wave on the radar went moving through, and we had a big opening gap,” Loebig said. “We postponed it, brought the blower out and dried off the track and got the race going again so we could finish all 200 laps.”Fifty minutes later with a semi-dry track, the riders were lined up NASCAR style, beginning with the teams on the lead lap arranged by their elapsed lap time. Essentially, some teams gained ground with the restart, because they were set directly behind the wheel of the person in front of them.At this point in the race, an error was made in the press box as to which lap Phi Gamma Delta was actually on.“In the press box, there are lots of cards, and for every team there is a spot for every lap, and their times for every lap, and then those are entered into the computer,” Loebig said. “FIJI’s time when they completed lap 102 was 104:43. In the computer, they typed in lap 101, 104:43.”Ellis and his cycling team realized the mistake was made when announcer Chuck Crabb announced after the restart that Phi Gamma Delta still had two laps to make up to be on the lead lap. That is when Phi Gamma Delta’s coach first started trying to straighten everything out with race officials.The lead pack’s speed slowed while first and second place exchanged between Phi Delta Theta and Cutters, and Phi Gamma Delta worked to fight back to their lap.“We did a ton of work to catch back up to the pack to make up the extra lap,” Ellis said. “Because the race is televised and it was recorded, we knew they would be able to go back and count our laps.”The rest of the field was unaware that Phi Gamma Delta was still in contention for the title, even when the team led with seven laps to go.Phi Gamma Delta coach Todd Cornelius said one team on the field knew that Phi Gamma Delta was still a threat.“Surely, the Cutters were counting our laps,” he said. “We weren’t trying to do something sneaky. I have 10 guys on the fence watching other the teams. If you’re concerned about a team, you should count their laps.”With two laps to go, Delta Tau Delta rider Jon Myrvold came in for a mount-dismount exchange with teammate RJ Stuart, who had practiced mainly bike-to-bike exchanges. The exchange did not go cleanly, starting with Stuart falling to the ground and ending with him trying to make up the time his team had lost.“When I went down, I was like ‘There’s no way this race is over, because I have been training all year,’” Stuart said. “So I gritted my teeth with all the dirt and just came home. It was do or die, kind of. It was lap 198, and you’ve ridden 198 laps already, and you have people in the stands cheering for you — I just had to do it.”When the race ended, Delta Tau Delta was announced as the third-place finisher, but Phi Gamma Delta contested their finish in the race. Loebig and the race officials looked at the footage and realized the mistake. Rightfully, Phi Gamma Delta finished their laps with the lead lap and should have been announced as the third-place winners.As the Cutters celebrated the official win, they knew they had won off the strategy they returned to after the rain delay.“We went back to our original race strategy that we were going to blow up the race like we did before and just hurt people if we can and get off the front and see what happens, and that’s what happened,” Schroeder said.
(04/24/10 10:13pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>2007. 2008. 2009. 2010.Four straight years the Cutters have crossed the finish line of the men’s Little 500 first.Through downpours, thunder and yes, even lightning. The 32 other teams of the 60th running of the men’s Little 500 were not able to hold off the Cutters’ victory.Prior to the start of the race, officials had said that the race could officially be called after lap 101. But after a 30-minute race suspension on lap 104, officials waved the green flag again.Race conditions never really improved after the delay. Rain was steady, but no major crashes occurred.On lap 198, Delta Tau Delta junior RJ Stuart went down on an exchange with teammate Jon Myrvold. Stuart immediately got up and took off to try and catch Phi Delta Theta and Cutters, who were exchanging the one and two position.Then on the final lap, the Cutters broke away just after rounding turn two. Phi Delta Theta’s Steve Sharp tried to catch up, but it was no use. The Cutters crossed the finish line, arms raised, with Phi Delta Theta finishing .01 seconds behind.It was announced at the race that Delta Tau Delta had finished third, but Phi Gamma Delta disputed it. IU Student Foundation video verified that in fact Phi Gamma Delta had beaten Delta Tau Delta.Nonetheless, Cutters will return next year wearing that yellow jersey.1. Cutters2. Phi Delts3. Phi Gamma Delta4. Delta Tau Delta5. Beta Theta Pi6. Gray Goat Cycling7. Sigma Chi8. Sigma Nu9. Phi Kappa Psi10. Black Key Bulls
(04/23/10 4:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s a Little 500 tradition. The rider who crosses the finish line first raises her hands — triumphant in victory.But when Teter’s Caitlin Van Kooten crossed the finish line, she was hesitant about raising her hands. A nightmare she had before the race made her second guess the historical gesture.“I put my hands up,” Van Kooten said about her dream, “the bike falls, and we get a penalty for impeding and retroactively lose.”When she raised her hands during the actual race, her bike stayed beneath her and the win stayed tacked next to her team’s name in the final results.She rode her victory lap, signed autographs and gave hugs to anyone who wanted one. Van Kooten’s legs are not the sole reason she swept the Spring Series events and, of course, the 23rd running of the Women’s Little 500. It’s something within her.Even her coach, Chris Wojtowich, said Van Kooten possesses something in her that cannot be taught. That something caused Van Kooten to lead the race with about 20 laps to go, even attempting a burnout — where the front rider takes off from the pack — that her coach said was simply Van Kooten attacking.“We may have had a bike there so it might have looked like a burnout, but that’s what you kind of want to do is throw off teams,” Wojtowich said. “But it didn’t matter if that bike was there or not, she was going and that was it.”The Bloomington native knew she had one final attack left and luckily she did it right before the yellow flag waved after a crash with 15 laps to go.“We just attacked before other people attacked and we got the gap and then the yellow helped us,” Van Kooten said. “It was so unfortunate that those girls crashed. They’re both girls that train really hard, but that just gave us time to catch up, so we just went for it.”Tactically, Wojtowich mastered the Little 500 field. He was giving his riders lap times and telling them who to pass and who to follow.“It’s important to know exactly where you are and what you’re doing,” Teter rider Dana VanderGenugten said. “We all had signs after each lap so that was really helpful to know like ‘Okay, I can do to more laps.’”The communication led to Teter finally breaking its curse of qualifying in the top pole spot and not capturing the yellow jersey.“That was always the joke,” Van Kooten said. “Every story that got written about us was ‘Teter’s run the pole every single year, but they never seem to capitalize on the race win.’ Like quals has really any connection to what you do for 100 laps. “We broke the Teter pole curse and won everything else.”