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#4 Hoosiers Host #20 Virginia Tech on Sunday / on BTN / Hokies win 2-1 in OT

snowling

Hall of Famer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team will host the No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies on Sunday at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium in a NCAA Tournament third round match.

The match is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. ET start on Sunday, with the match being broadcast live nationally on the Big Ten Network. Fans can find an online stream of the match at IUHoosiers.com, with live stats available at NCAA.com.

The first 500 IU students with valid student ID will get in the the match for free. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth (18 & under) and college students and are available at IUHoosiers.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team enters Sunday's contest with the No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies with an overall record of 12-1-7 on the season after beating No. 23 Akron, 1-0, last Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Senior Billy McConnell scored the game-winning header for IU in the 54th minute off an assist from classmate Tanner Thompson .
• With the victory over Akron, IU reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the 36th time in program history and for the fifth time under head coach Todd Yeagley .
• The Hoosiers will be looking to make the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals for the 25th time in program history and for the first time since 2012.
• Indiana has an NCAA-best .731 (85-30-4) winning percentage in the tournament, while the 85 victories are also tops in the NCAA.
• IU was seeded No. 7 overall in the NCAA Tournament, marking the 12th time in the last 14 years since the current seeding format began in 2003 that IU has earned a top-16 seed.
• The berth for the Hoosiers is the team's 30th-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 41st overall in the program's history.

NEWS AND NOTES
• Tanner Thompson was named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.
• Colin Webb was named CoSIDA Academic All-District for the second-straight season.
• IU earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the sixth time in program history and for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
• IU's unbeaten 10-game streak (6-0-4) to start the season was the first for the program since 1997 and was the ninth-best start in team history.

SCOUTING THE HOKIES
• The Virginia Tech Hokies come to Bloomington on Sunday with an overall record of 12-4-4 on the year.
• Last Sunday, the Hokies upset No. 10-seeded Charlotte at home, 3-2, in a wild, back-and-forth match to advance in the tournament.
• VT earned the program's fifth NCAA Tournament berth as an at-large selection and the team's first since 2007.
• In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Hokies hosted Eastern Tennessee State, winning 1-0.
• IU and Virginia Tech have played just two common opponents this season - Ohio State and Notre Dame. VT beat OSU, 1-0, in double-overtime in the season opener and lost to the Fighting Irish in South Bend, 4-1. IU tied the Buckeyes this season and the Hoosiers' only loss on the year came at Notre Dame.
• Marcelo Acuna leads the Hokies with 24 points on the year behind a team-best 11 goals and two assists. Alessandro Mion has netted four scores for Virginia Tech.
• In the national polls, VT was ranked No. 20 in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings, No. 24 by College Soccer News poll and was not ranked in the final Soccer America Top 25. The Hokies are receiving votes in the NSCAA Coaches Poll.

SERIES HISTORY
• Sunday's match with the Hokies will mark the first time that Indiana and Virginia Tech have faced each other on the pitch.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• The berth for the Hoosiers is the team's 30th-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 40th overall in the program's history.
• Indiana has an NCAA-best .731 (85-30-4) winning percentage in the tournament, while the 85 victories are also tops in the NCAA.
• IU has appeared in 18 College Cups, which leads all Division I teams, and won its eighth national title in 2012.

HOOSIERS EARN NO. 7 SEED
• After posting a 11-1-7 record on the season, IU earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• Since the NCAA began its current seeding format in 2003, the Hoosiers have earned a top-16 seed in 12 of the 14 tournaments.

HAPPY AT HOME
• Indiana finished the regular season undefeated (6-0-3) at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium for the first time since 2003.
• That IU team went on to post a record of 9-0-4 at home en route to winning the NCAA Championship.
• Including postseason play, IU is 8-0-3 at Armstrong Stadium this year.
• The victory over Akron marked the 300th all-time at Armstrong Stadium. IU is 300-63-44 (.791) all-time at home.

HOOSIERS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
• Indiana checks in at No. 4 in the Soccer America poll, No. 6 in the NSCAA Coaches Top 25, No. 8 in the College Soccer News poll and No. 12 by Top Drawer Soccer
• In the final NCAA RPI rankings released before the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers were ranked No. 15.

IU IN THE STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• In the NCAA statistical rankings, the Hoosiers lead the nation in shots per game (17.05) and rank eighth in shutout percentage (0.55) and 12th in team goals against average (0.65).

@IUMensSoccer
• For all the latest on Indiana University men's soccer, be sure to follow the team at @IUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook.

Live stats and game notes within:
iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/11/26/mens-soccer-no-4-hoosiers-host-no-20-virginia-tech-on-sunday.aspx

Go Hoosiers!
 
IU men's soccer preparing to take on Virginia Tech
by Josh Eastern

After a 1-0 second round win at home over the Akron Zips, the No. 7 seeded Hoosiers got a chance to take part in one of the program’s favorite traditions: Tudor Room Turkey.

But that wasn't all they were sticking around for.

The win meant IU got to stick around in Bloomington for another week to prepare for its NCAA Tournament Round of 16 match against the Virginia Tech Hokies.

The unseeded Hokies travel to Bloomington off an upset win over the No. 10-seed Charlotte 49ers.

For IU, the recipe stays the same. It will look to set the tone with its defense and hope it can create enough chances and quality in the final third to find the back of the net.

“Here at Indiana, we really take pride in our defense,” IU sophomore midfielder Francesco Moore said. “That’s kind of our calling card.”

IU's goal coming into the season was 12 clean sheets. The shutout victory over Akron gave the Hoosiers their 11th. If they can hold off their ACC opponent Sunday, they will have reached their goal and punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.

The Hoosiers would also knock one of the eight remaining ACC teams out of the tournament.

IU Coach Todd Yeagley praised the effort of IU's backline after the win over Akron. He said junior Grant Lillard turned in an All-American performance, and that no one is more driven than senior right back Billy McConnell.

“You’ve got a player like Billy that’s so driven,” Yeagley said. “He wants to be at the end of this smiling.”

McConnell said after the Akron match the team was able to properly implement things they were working on in practice to the game. Both McConnell and Yeagley described the backline as connected, and if this squad can communicate properly, the Hoosier defense will be hard to break down.

“We were able to fine-tune some of the mistakes we made earlier in the year with clearing the ball,” McConnell said after defeating Akron. “That’s what we’ve been working on in practice. Defensively, we’re connected. We’re in sync. We just kept our focus and did what we worked on.”

The Hoosiers did so without one of their men in the middle, IU sophomore Trevor Swartz. He injured his face in the Big Ten semifinal against Wisconsin and hasn’t played since. It's unclear whether or not he'll make an appearance Sunday.

Either way, IU's seniors will be locked in. This could be the last game they ever play in Bloomington, and they want to make it count.

“We’re going to take one game at a time and we’re going to keep going,” McConnell said. “We’re going to go to the Final Four. We’re going to get there, go to Houston, get a ring. We want to stay together as long as possible.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/11/iu-mens-soccer-preparing-to-take-on-virginia-tech

Go Hoosiers!
 
No. 20 Virginia Tech Edges No. 4 Indiana, 2-1, in Overtime

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 20-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies scored in the 98th minute to upset the No. 4-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, 2-1, in overtime on Sunday afternoon at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

With the setback, Indiana finishes the season with a record of 12-2-7 on the season, while Virginia Tech advances to face either Wake Forest or SIU-Edwardsville in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The loss was the first this season for the Hoosiers in Bloomington, who posted a record of 8-1-3 at Armstrong Stadium.

Junior Grant Lillard scored his third goal of the season for the Hoosiers, while Andrew Gutman and Rees Wedderburn each tallied assists. IU goalkeeper Christian Lomeli made two saves in the loss.

Virginia Tech got on the scoreboard first, taking a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute on a goal from Brendan Moyers.

In the second half, the Hoosiers continued to dominate possession and found the equalizer in the 77th minute.

On a corner kick, Wedderburn delivered a great ball to the near post. Gutman flicked the ball back to Lillard, who headed it home from five yards out to knot the game at 1-1.

In overtime, IU had the bulk of possession, but the Hokies were able to find the winner on a wonder-strike from Forrest White, who curled in the game winner off the left post and in from the top of the 18-yard box.

For the game, Indiana out-shot Virginia Tech, 24-8, with IU having an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Hoosiers had nine corner kicks to none for VT in the match.

The 2016 season was another successful one for the Indiana Hoosiers. The team earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the 30th-straight season – the 41st overall for the program. IU also reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the 36th time in program history.

For all the latest on Indiana University men's soccer, be sure to follow the team at @IUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Boxscore and video within:
http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/11/...-tech-edges-no-4-indiana-2-1-in-overtime.aspx

Go Hoosiers!
 
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Nothing worse than a team that can't score. I mean relatively speaking in as much as it's so frustrating to be so good all season long and not have anything to show for it. I wish they could have been rewarded.
 
Remember the College Cup? Seems like we haven't been in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. Seem like we haven't been past the second round in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. The handwriting for the end of this season has been on the wall for a long time for anyone who cared to read it.
 
IU men’s soccer sees season end in heartbreak
by Josh Eastern

IU had barely let Virginia Tech get a touch of the ball in extra time.

After another save from Virginia Tech goalkeeper Ben Lundgaard, the Hokies had numbers moving into the attacking half. Four Hokies took on three Hoosiers. The IU backline finally looked vulnerable.

Virginia Tech junior midfielder Forrest White got the ball on his right foot, tapped it to his left and fired his shot off the left post. IU senior goalkeeper Christian Lomeli could do nothing but see it move past his outstretched arm.

Just like that, heartbreak.

“They had numbers on us,” IU junior defender Grant Lillard said. “He was able to bring it back to his left and he hit a nice shot. Sometimes there isn’t much you can do when they hit a shot like that.”

Behind White’s first career goal, Virginia Tech ousted the No. 7 seeded Hoosiers from the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 by a score of 2-1 in extra time.

The Hoosiers first fell behind in the 19th minute. Virginia Tech midfielder Brendan Moyers was left all alone in the middle of the box and finished with ease to give the Hokies a 1-0 lead.

The Hoosiers didn’t find an equalizer until the 77th minute.

IU sophomore Rees Wedderburn sent in an in-swinging cross with his left foot from the far corner flag. It eventually found Lillard in the middle of the box who finished with his head. It was tied.

IU had a firm grasp on the match after the initial Virginia Tech goal in regulation up until the deciding goal in extra time. The Hoosiers outshot the Hokies 24-8, but couldn’t put away numerous attempts.

“It’s been elusive this year,” Yeagley said. “We worked so hard in getting cleaner in the final third and having composure. I thought their goalkeeper made some phenomenal saves on some, but I thought we could have been a bit cleaner. With this team you feel like one is enough.”

Virginia Tech Coach Michael Brizendine said his squad had not faced an attack like IU’s all season long. Lundgaard’s massive saves kept the Hokies in it, and allowed his teammates multiple counter attack opportunities.

Yeagley said the Hoosiers didn’t lose, rather, the Hokies just won with a tremendous finish.

“Going out like that, overtime, it’s a tough way to go out,” IU senior Tanner Thompson said. “It’s not fun, but those younger guys will remember this moment and they’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. These moments sting, but they make you better.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/11/iu-mens-soccer-sees-season-end-in-heartbreak

Go Hoosiers!
 
Remember the College Cup? Seems like we haven't been in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. Seem like we haven't been past the second round in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. The handwriting for the end of this season has been on the wall for a long time for anyone who cared to read it.
we won it all in 2012, but haven't really gotten close since-or about 8 years prior to that. Jerry is long gone and so are the glory days for IU soccer.
 
Remember the College Cup? Seems like we haven't been in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. Seem like we haven't been past the second round in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. The handwriting for the end of this season has been on the wall for a long time for anyone who cared to read it.
We won the damn national title in 2012.

But no, you aren't going to see a run like Jerry had. The game has grown.
 
Remember the College Cup? Seems like we haven't been in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. Seem like we haven't been past the second round in a really, really, really loooooonnnng time. The handwriting for the end of this season has been on the wall for a long time for anyone who cared to read it.

we won it all in 2012, but haven't really gotten close since-or about 8 years prior to that. Jerry is long gone and so are the glory days for IU soccer.

Wow... this sounds like something I'd expect to hear from Kentucky basketball fans.

You can clearly spot the folks who don't follow college soccer in a meaningful way. Dynasties such as Yeagley Sr produced are a thing of the past. The game is now mainstream in our culture and we are one of the elite programs in the nation. As Coach Yeagley said, sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other guy when you get beat by a hot keeper and a strike like that.
 
Wow... this sounds like something I'd expect to hear from Kentucky basketball fans.

You can clearly spot the folks who don't follow college soccer in a meaningful way. Dynasties such as Yeagley Sr produced are a thing of the past. The game is now mainstream in our culture and we are one of the elite programs in the nation. As Coach Yeagley said, sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other guy when you get beat by a hot keeper and a strike like that.
People refuse to accept change and examine how sports evolve. You are exactly right. The game has grown and there is more talent at more schools, which is good.

And again, we won the national title 4 years ago!
 
Wow... this sounds like something I'd expect to hear from Kentucky basketball fans.

You can clearly spot the folks who don't follow college soccer in a meaningful way. Dynasties such as Yeagley Sr produced are a thing of the past. The game is now mainstream in our culture and we are one of the elite programs in the nation. As Coach Yeagley said, sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other guy when you get beat by a hot keeper and a strike like that.
Wow... this sounds like something I'd expect to hear from Kentucky basketball fans.

You can clearly spot the folks who don't follow college soccer in a meaningful way. Dynasties such as Yeagley Sr produced are a thing of the past. The game is now mainstream in our culture and we are one of the elite programs in the nation. As Coach Yeagley said, sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other guy when you get beat by a hot keeper and a strike like that.
I follow college soccer very closely and have for 20+ years, since my undergrad days at IUB. This is a program that has been on a steady decline over the last decade. The problem runs much deeper than a great golden goal or a hot goalkeeper for VCU. How many times in the past 10 years has IU dominated a match statistically, yet failed to score or end up losing on a counterattack or PKs? It started with Freitag and has continued with Todd. Sadly, IU soccer is becoming like IU basketball: a good, but no longer great program.
 
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I follow college soccer very closely and have for 20+ years, since my undergrad days at IUB. This is a program that has been on a steady decline over the last decade. The problem runs much deeper than a great golden goal or a hot goalkeeper for VCU. How many times in the past 10 years has IU dominated a match statistically, yet failed to score or end up losing on a counterattack or PKs? It started with Freitag and has continued with Todd. Sadly, IU soccer is becoming like IU basketball: a good, but no longer great program.
They won the title 4 years ago and are constantly in the top 10. They simply are not going to steamroll over everyone anymore. That's not the nature of the game.

The "sadly" stuff and drama seems completely asinine to me.
 
They won the title 4 years ago and are constantly in the top 10. They simply are not going to steamroll over everyone anymore. That's not the nature of the game.

The "sadly" stuff and drama seems completely asinine to me.
This is not a top 10 program. IU soccer gets lofty rankings based on their history and tradition. They don't even challenge for the Big Ten title anymore-regular season or conference tournament. They regularly get bounced from the NCAA in the round of 32 or 16. The 2012 title run was great, but that is the lone bright spot since 2004. This is a declining program-despite those overrated rankings.
 
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I follow college soccer very closely and have for 20+ years, since my undergrad days at IUB. This is a program that has been on a steady decline over the last decade.
This is not a top 10 program. IU soccer gets lofty rankings based on their history and tradition.

If you mean by this that you regularly check the score on the latest Hoosier soccer match, I have no doubt that you do. If by this you mean you closely follow college soccer as a whole, your statements do not bear this out. Those who are much more knowledgeable and follow college soccer much closely than either of us clearly disagree with the notion that the Hoosiers are not a top 10 program. They do so with their rankings and tourney seeds.

It is not a meaningful claim that IU has declined in terms of its conference and/or tournament performance. The sport has grown in our culture and there are now many more schools which place an emphasis on the sport. Every traditional soccer power has declined by this measure. There are 27 active programs which have appeared in the tournament only once. 13 of these have come in the past 10 years. Likewise, there are 27 programs which have two total appearances. 15 of those began appearing in the tourney since 2000. Go take a look at the link below. You see the vast explosion of schools that only began appearing in the tourney since 2000. IU (and the other traditional powers) don't just compete against 40-50 other school who take the sport seriously. They compete against 140-150 other schools who take the sport seriously. Yeagley Sr retired just as this effect was beginning to kick in. No one is ever again going to win 5 in 6 years like Virginia did or 4 in 7 like our Hoosiers did. The college soccer landscape has changed forever and it's not going back. If anything, it's going to continue to get tougher.

Did Indiana's performance dip in the wake of Jerry Yeagley's retirement? It clearly did, but it's a testament to the strength and elite status of the program that it has rebounded. UCLA and Alabama would look with envy at how we moved on from an iconic coach with such a relatively minor drop in performance. Any knowledgeable ranking of the top 10 soccer programs still includes Indiana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men's_Division_I_Soccer_Tournament_appearances_by_school
 
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If you mean by this that you regularly check the score on the latest Hoosier soccer match, I have no doubt that you do. If by this you mean you closely follow college soccer as a whole, your statements do not bear this out. Those who are much more knowledgeable and follow college soccer much closely than either of us clearly disagree with the notion that the Hoosiers are not a top 10 program. They do so with their rankings and tourney seeds.

It is not a meaningful claim that IU has declined in terms of its conference and/or tournament performance. The sport has grown in our culture and there are now many more schools which place an emphasis on the sport. Every traditional soccer power has declined by this measure. There are 27 active programs which have appeared in the tournament only once. 13 of these have come in the past 10 years. Likewise, there are 27 programs which have two total appearances. 15 of those began appearing in the tourney since 2000. Go take a look at the link below. You see the vast explosion of schools that only began appearing in the tourney since 2000. IU (and the other traditional powers) don't just compete against 40-50 other school who take the sport seriously. They compete against 140-150 other schools who take the sport seriously. Yeagley Sr retired just as this effect was beginning to kick in. No one is ever again going to win 5 in 6 years like Virginia did or 4 in 7 like our Hoosiers did. The college soccer landscape has changed forever and it's not going back. If anything, it's going to continue to get tougher.

Did Indiana's performance dip in the wake of Jerry Yeagley's retirement? It clearly did, but it's a testament to the strength and elite status of the program that it has rebounded. UCLA and Alabama would look with envy at how we moved on from an iconic coach with such a relatively minor drop in performance. Any knowledgeable ranking of the top 10 soccer programs still includes Indiana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men's_Division_I_Soccer_Tournament_appearances_by_school
Very good post and interesting information in that link. I don't disagree at all that college soccer has grown and more schools are able to get good talent now. Soccer is unique in that "mid-majors" like UCSB, Akron, and SIUE can compete with the "blue bloods". That said, I just think IU should have held up stronger throughout this changing landscape. I don't expect 4 titles in 7 years, but a Big Ten title every 2-3 years and a deep run to the College Cup every 3-4 is still reasonable for a program like this.
Feels like we've fallen well below that level since that 2012 title.
 
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