Nobody needed to remind head coach Todd Yeagley how much Tuesday's 2-1 win against Louisville meant for his program.
He already knew.
"There's no dodging it," Yeagley said Tuesday. "This was huge tonight."
The win against RPI No. 22 Louisville gave Indiana (8-4-2, 1-3-1) a resume-building win the Hoosiers lacked on its non-conference schedule.
Indiana finished the non-conference 7-1-1 with the win against Louisville joining three other RPI top-100 wins against No. 8 South Florida, No. 81 Saint Louis and No. 93 UAB. IU's two blemishes in the non-conference came with an overtime loss to No. 5 Notre Dame and a draw against No. 28 Butler on the road.
With only three regular-season Big Ten games remaining before the postseason, Indiana finds itself in a bit of an odd place with unexplainable parity between non-conference and conference results.
The Hoosiers rank No. 35 in the RPI, giving them the third-highest RPI ranking among Big Ten teams, but the conference standings paint a different picture. The Hoosiers are 1-3-1 against Big Ten opponents, putting them last in a jumbled conference standings where first and last are separated by just six points.
Yeagley doesn't separate the Big Ten season from the non-conference, but even he admits it's hard to pinpoint where the disparity comes from. He's not worried, he said, because he feels the Hoosiers' non-conference results are more telling of their actual play.
"We don't feel like a team that's at the bottom of the Big Ten," Yeagley said. "The mojo of the team, the way we've performed, they all know it. I told them, 'Don't press, we have three games left. There's tons of points on the board.' It's just not fun to look at. That's just being honest."
It's about just as fun for the players to recall as it is to look at.
Indiana's Big Ten losses include a frustrating 4-1 loss to Rutgers at home, an overtime loss on a penalty kick to Ohio State and a one-goal loss Rutgers. It's frustrating, junior forward Tanner Thompson said, because Indiana doesn't think the results reflect the talent.
"Big Ten games are tough," he Thompson said. "They're big guys, they battle. It's just always a battle. I think we've been unlucky in a few of the Big Ten games…We've just had some breaks in the Big Ten that didn't go our way, but I think they're going to start going our way for us."
If IU's Big Ten fortunate are going to turn, it'll likely have to happen this weekend, which is why he told his team they could only enjoy Tuesday's win against Louisville for an hour.
Indiana plays Michigan on Saturday before a full week off before closing with Wisconsin and Michigan State.
There's nine points left on the board, and Yeagley said he expects Indiana to claim all of them.
"We know we're at the top of the table when it comes to the way we've played, our performance," Yeagley said. "Things will shift. And whatever road we have to go on to be at the top, these guys are fine with that."
McConnell Finally Nets His Goal
Billy McConnell has been telling anyone who cared to listen that he'd be scoring his first career goal this season.
He finally got it Tuesday.
The junior defender headed in a goal on a deflection by sophomore defender Grant Lillard that came off a corner from Thompson in the eighth minute of Indiana's 2-1 win against Louisville. For McConnell, it was his first score since his senior year of high school.
"I couldn't even believe it went in," he said. "I didn't know what to do, I just kind of ran around. I'm so energetic right now. I can't believe it actually happened."
Yeagley joked that it was only a matter of time before McConnell broke through, considering how often he talked about scoring. All it took was a set piece for him to finally sneak into the scoresheet.
"It's been awhile," McConnell said. "There's been a force field in front of the goal for me, and I broke it tonight."
Go Hoosiers!
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/10/22/MSOC_1022151905.aspx
He already knew.
"There's no dodging it," Yeagley said Tuesday. "This was huge tonight."
The win against RPI No. 22 Louisville gave Indiana (8-4-2, 1-3-1) a resume-building win the Hoosiers lacked on its non-conference schedule.
Indiana finished the non-conference 7-1-1 with the win against Louisville joining three other RPI top-100 wins against No. 8 South Florida, No. 81 Saint Louis and No. 93 UAB. IU's two blemishes in the non-conference came with an overtime loss to No. 5 Notre Dame and a draw against No. 28 Butler on the road.
With only three regular-season Big Ten games remaining before the postseason, Indiana finds itself in a bit of an odd place with unexplainable parity between non-conference and conference results.
The Hoosiers rank No. 35 in the RPI, giving them the third-highest RPI ranking among Big Ten teams, but the conference standings paint a different picture. The Hoosiers are 1-3-1 against Big Ten opponents, putting them last in a jumbled conference standings where first and last are separated by just six points.
Yeagley doesn't separate the Big Ten season from the non-conference, but even he admits it's hard to pinpoint where the disparity comes from. He's not worried, he said, because he feels the Hoosiers' non-conference results are more telling of their actual play.
"We don't feel like a team that's at the bottom of the Big Ten," Yeagley said. "The mojo of the team, the way we've performed, they all know it. I told them, 'Don't press, we have three games left. There's tons of points on the board.' It's just not fun to look at. That's just being honest."
It's about just as fun for the players to recall as it is to look at.
Indiana's Big Ten losses include a frustrating 4-1 loss to Rutgers at home, an overtime loss on a penalty kick to Ohio State and a one-goal loss Rutgers. It's frustrating, junior forward Tanner Thompson said, because Indiana doesn't think the results reflect the talent.
"Big Ten games are tough," he Thompson said. "They're big guys, they battle. It's just always a battle. I think we've been unlucky in a few of the Big Ten games…We've just had some breaks in the Big Ten that didn't go our way, but I think they're going to start going our way for us."
If IU's Big Ten fortunate are going to turn, it'll likely have to happen this weekend, which is why he told his team they could only enjoy Tuesday's win against Louisville for an hour.
Indiana plays Michigan on Saturday before a full week off before closing with Wisconsin and Michigan State.
There's nine points left on the board, and Yeagley said he expects Indiana to claim all of them.
"We know we're at the top of the table when it comes to the way we've played, our performance," Yeagley said. "Things will shift. And whatever road we have to go on to be at the top, these guys are fine with that."
McConnell Finally Nets His Goal
Billy McConnell has been telling anyone who cared to listen that he'd be scoring his first career goal this season.
He finally got it Tuesday.
The junior defender headed in a goal on a deflection by sophomore defender Grant Lillard that came off a corner from Thompson in the eighth minute of Indiana's 2-1 win against Louisville. For McConnell, it was his first score since his senior year of high school.
"I couldn't even believe it went in," he said. "I didn't know what to do, I just kind of ran around. I'm so energetic right now. I can't believe it actually happened."
Yeagley joked that it was only a matter of time before McConnell broke through, considering how often he talked about scoring. All it took was a set piece for him to finally sneak into the scoresheet.
"It's been awhile," McConnell said. "There's been a force field in front of the goal for me, and I broke it tonight."
Go Hoosiers!
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/10/22/MSOC_1022151905.aspx
