Tourney Time
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.
