Born in St. Louis and having played soccer for St. Louis University
High School, IU defender Tommy Meyer knows what to expect in his first
NCAA tournament game more than most freshmen typically would.
“Luis (Soffner), Chris (Haffner) and I were all recruited by St. Louis
University,” Meyer said. “There is one kid from my club team that is on
SLU and a bunch of older kids on that team that are on SLU too, so I
know most of them. Ever since coming here I looked forward to playing
St. Louis because it has always been such a big game. I’m not really
nervous yet, but we’ll see.”
Seeded No. 6 in the tournament, the Hoosiers (12-6-3) will face the
Billikens (12-4-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The matchup against St. Louis is especially intriguing for a couple of reasons.
For one, IU coach Mike Freitag and five players hail from the Gateway
City. In addition, the Hoosiers have competed against the Billikens 30
times, posting a 17-9-4 advantage.
SLU senior midfielder Kyle Patterson, a MAC Hermann Trophy candidate
for the nation’s top college soccer player, is the best offensive
threat for the Billikens. He leads the team with 29 points on the
season, including five game-winning goals.
Another player the Hoosiers will need to focus on is SLU senior
defender Calum Angus, who returned for the final 12 games after being
injured earlier in the season. Last year, Angus was named second-team
All-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and
the Atlantic-10 Defensive Player of the Year.
