No. 16 Indiana Hosts UConn in NCAA Second Round: IU wins 1-0

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 16-seeded Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer team will host the UConn Huskies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon in Bloomington.

Game time for Sunday's match is 12:00 p.m. at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth/college students.

The match will be broadcast online on BTN Plus. Live stats will be available on IUHoosiers.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana enters the NCAA Tournament playing the team's best soccer of the season, posting a record of 9-1-2 in the Hoosiers' last 12 matches.
• After beating Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, 1-0, IU saw eventual tournament champion Maryland advance past the Hoosiers in the semifinal round in penalty kicks.
• IU ended the regular season on a high note, taking down Michigan State in East Lansing, 4-1. Tanner Thompson and Femi Hollinger-Janzen each had a goal and an assist in the win.
• IU ended the non-conference, regular season portion of its schedule with a record of 7-1-1, posting wins over RPI-ranked No.14 South Florida, No. 23 Louisville and No. 90 Saint Louis.

NEWS AND NOTES
• After qualifying once again this year, the Hoosiers extended their streak to 29 straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• This season's NCAA Tournament appearance is the 40th all-time for Indiana.
• Colin Webb was named 2015 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District. Webb is now eligible to be named an Academic All-American, which will be voted on in November.
• Femi Hollinger-Janzen was named one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• The UConn Huskies come to Bloomington with an overall record of 10-5-6 on the season after beating Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, 3-1.
• The Huskies were awarded an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament after finishing third in the AAC regular season and losing in the AAC Tournament final on penalty kicks to Tulsa.
• In 17 NCAA Tournament appearances under 19th-year head coach Ray Reid, UConn owns a 23-10-7 all-time record.

SERIES HISTORY
• In the overall series between the two teams dating back to the 1978 season, the UConn Huskies hold a 3-2-1 series lead over the Indiana Hoosiers.
• The two teams have played once in the NCAA Tournament prior to Sunday, with the Huskies beating IU, 1-0, on Dec. 1, 2002 in Storrs, Conn. in the NCAA Tournament Third Round.
• The last time the two teams played was on Sept. 1, 2006, with the squads playing to a 1-1 draw in Bloomington.

HOOSIERS EARN NO. 16 SEED
• After posting a 12-4-3 record on the season, IU earned the No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• Since the NCAA began its current seeding format in 2003, the Hoosiers have earned a top-16 seed in 11 of the 13 tournaments.
• The last time IU was the No. 16 seed was in 2012, when Indiana won the program's eighth NCAA Championship.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• The berth for the Hoosiers is the team's 29th-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 40th overall in the program's history.
• Indiana has an NCAA-best .732 (83-29-4) winning percentage in the tournament, while the 83 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.

WINNING STREAKS
• Indiana has posted two five-match winning streaks this season – the 15th time the Hoosiers have won at least five-games in a row twice in a season.
• In the previous 14 seasons where IU won at least five-matches in a row twice, the Hoosiers appeared in the NCAA National Championship game 11 of the 14 years.
• IU won the national title on six of those occasions.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
• The Hoosiers again had one of the toughest schedules in the country in 2015, playing six matches against five NCAA Tournament teams, having faced Maryland twice.
• Of the five teams, four earned national seeds – Notre Dame (No. 7), Ohio State (No. 9), Maryland (No. 10) and South Florida (No. 14).

FIVE HOOSIERS EARN ALL-BIG TEN HONORS
• Tanner Thompson was named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, as well as First-Team All-Big Ten. Joining Thompson on the first-team all-conference squad were both Femi Hollinger-Janzen and Grant Lillard.
• Andrew Gutman was named Second-Team All-Big Ten, as well as to the All-Freshman Team, where he was joined by Francesco Moore. Hollinger-Janzen was Indiana's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
• IU was the only school to have three first-team all-conference selections and was one of just two programs with multiple all-rookie selections (Maryland).

700 WINS
• With a 1-0 win over Wisconsin on Oct. 31, Indiana men's soccer became just the fifth program in Division I history to amass 700 victories.
• With the win, the Hoosiers became the fastest program to reach the milestone, taking just 953 matches.
• Currently, UCLA was previously the fastest team to win 700 matches, taking 962 games.
• Indiana joined Virginia, Maryland, Saint Louis and UCLA in the 700-win club.

HOOSIERS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
• In the latest NSCAA Coaches rankings, the Indiana Hoosiers are ranked No. 19 in the nation.
• IU is also ranked No. 17 by both College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer.

INDIANA IN THE RPI RANKINGS
• In the final RPI rankings released by the NCAA on Nov. 15, the Indiana Hoosiers moved up one spot to No. 21.
• Indiana is the third-highest ranked Big Ten team in the RPI behind only Ohio State at No. 11 and Maryland at No. 13.
• In total, there are seven Big Ten teams ranked in the top-63 of the NCAA RPI.

HOOSIERS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• In the NCAA rankings released on Friday, Indiana ranks fifth in the nation in shots per game (17.11), 18th in shutout percentage (0.47) and 18th in team goals against average (0.75).
• Individually, Tanner Thomson ranks 17th in total assists (9) and 18th in assists per game (0.47).
• Colin Webb ranks 25th in goals against average (0.746) and 25th in goalie minutes played (1810:28).
• Femi Hollinger-Janzen ranks 18th in the country in shots per game (3.63).

IU IN THE BIG TEN RANKINGS
• In the Big Ten statistics released on Friday, IU ranks first in the league in shots (325), second in goals (1.53), second in goals per game (1.53), third in assists (31) and third in points (89).
• Individually, Tanner Thompson leads the conference with nine assists, while Colin Webb is second with nine shutouts on the year.
• Femi Hollinger-Janzen is third in the conference with eight goals and leads the league in shots with 69.

Go Hoosiers!

Video within link:
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/11/20/MSOC_UConnNCAA.aspx

 

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Hoosiers Anxious To Start NCAA Tournament Run

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Derek Creviston still hasn't forgotten the disappointment of losing 2-1 to Xavier in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. He may never be able to clear it from his memory.

He isn't alone, either. The No. 16-seeded Indiana Hoosiers will begin their quest for a ninth national championship against the UConn Huskies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at noon Sunday in Bloomington fully aware of what losing feels like. It's an emotion they don't soon want to be reminded of.

"It's definitely there. It's in the pit of your stomach," Creviston said. "You can't forget something like that. It definitely fuels us for this one."

Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said he likes his team's confidence heading into Sunday's match against UConn, who advanced to the second round with a 3-1 victory over Boston College on the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. With nine days between games, he said the Hoosiers (12-4-3) have been anxious at practice to return to the field.

The Huskies (10-5-6) earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament after finishing third in the ACC regular season and losing in penalty kicks to Tulsa in the ACC Tournament final. The two programs haven't met since 2006, but Yeagley said UConn plays a similar style of game to Rutgers, who defeated Indiana 4-1 earlier in the season.

The Huskies are outscoring their opponents 26-17 through 21 games and haven't lost since Oct. 13 against Louisville. Their led with 11 goals from freshman forward Abdou Mbacke Thiam and 12 assists from junior midfielder Kwame Awuah.

"They're on a really good run," Yeagley said. "Obviously, we've seen a little bit of them throughout the year. They're a team that's got a lot of talent and maturity with some of their internationals. Very good composure."

Keeping composed could prove to be a key on either side. In Indiana's NCAA Tournament loss last year, junior forward Tanner Thompson said the Hoosiers let one or two too many opportunities slip away.

In a game holding as much magnitude as a win-or-go-home style NCAA Tournament game, he said teams can't afford to make mistakes.

"The key moments in games, we've got to be better," Thompson said. "Those kind of moments in games are crucial. Those goals matter, especially in tourney time, so we've just got to be locked in."

In an effort to make his team more comfortable after losing to Maryland in penalty kicks in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, Yeagley finished practice simulating penalty kicks on Jerry Yeagley Field on Friday. He had his team take kicks in both directions so they'd have more composure should the game end in a tie Sunday.

Indiana would rather not be in that situation to begin with, but the Hoosiers have played in enough postseason soccer to realize anything is possible, Yeagley said.

But emotions tend to run high in tournament games, so Yeagley wants his team to be prepared. They know what's on the line, he said, now they just need to go play.

"We're just pumped," Creviston said. "The NCAA, this is what we play for."

Go Hoosiers!

http://www.iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/11/22/MSOC_1122154928.aspx

 

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GOAL!
Maurey finds the net for IU (assist by Gutman) at the 38m mark to give Indiana a 1-0 lead.

Halftime stats:
Indiana had 10 shots to 2 for UConn.
Indiana had 0 saves to 2 for UConn.

2nd half stats:
Indiana had 6 shots to 5 for UConn.
Each team had 1 save.

Indiana posts a 1-0 win and awaits news on the next opponent (Charlotte at Wake Forest winner).
Wake is a 1-0 winner.

Go Hoosiers!

Game is streaming for free on BTN to Go with the BTN app. Check it out.

Live stats:
http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/lau...hool=fo&sport=msoccer&camefrom=&startschool=&

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/IUMensSoccer

 

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Indiana Defeats UConn, Advances In NCAA Tournament

By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Ben Maurey wishes his first Indiana goal would have come sooner.

But a game-winner in the NCAA Tournament is a nice enough consolation.

The senior forward found the back of the net for the first time this season in the 39th minute to give No. 16 Indiana a 1-0 win over UConn and help the Hoosiers advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. They'll travel to play No. 1 Wake Forest in Winston Salem, N.C. next weekend in the round of 16.

Maurey's goal—which came just two minutes after he subbed into the game—was assisted by freshman defender Andrew Gutman, who dribbled around a defender and rifled a cross in along the goal line. All Maurey had to do was stick his left foot out around the 6-yard line and deflect the ball into the goal.

"Just to be able to say that I scored with this jersey on in front of the crowd on this field, it means a lot to me," Maurey said. "I would have liked to score earlier, but it's a great game to get it in."

After scoring his goal, Maurey turned and ran toward the Indiana bench, raising a closed left wrist toward the press box in celebration. Before the game, he and a handful of other teammates wrote "K.S." on their taped wrists as a nod to senior midfielder Kyle Sparks, who may be unavailable for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery.

"We did it for Kyle," Maurey said. "This game was for Kyle."

The opening third of the match resembled Indiana's 2014 NCAA Tournament loss to Xavier with the Hoosiers' attack seemingly getting opportunity after opportunity without capitalizing.

In the first 10 minutes of the game alone, Indiana had two shots blocked by UConn defenders, one shot go just wide, another carom off the crossbar and two saved by Huskies' keeper Scott Levene. But after seven shots on goal, Maurey finally broke through.

"We were going to score no matter what," sophomore defender Grant Lillard said. "It was going to happen."

UConn struggled to retain possession beyond the midfield for most of the game. The Huskies registered just seven shots, with most of their scoring opportunities either coming by result of Indiana's own defensive missteps or a late push when they started pushing numbers late.

Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said UConn's struggles were another sign of how strong Indiana's backline has gotten as the season has gone on, but Lillard also took time to credit IU's team defending. The Huskies' attack wasn't able to string together enough passes in their attacking end of the field to pose serious threats on goal.

Colin Webb went the duration of the match only needing to make one save in the 72nd minute of what was otherwise a relatively tame day for the junior goalkeeper. The Huskies' final effort in the closing seconds was a header from Levene, who was pulled up the field on a corner, that sailed harmlessly over the net.

"Going forward they struggled a little bit because we had good communication, good lines," Lillard said. "We were tough to break down. They were still hanging the ball around, but they weren't really going anywhere."

UConn head coach Ray Reid said his team came out too slow for his liking before a stronger effort in the second half that came too late. He also said his team's fatigue might have been a factor, considering it was the Huskies' fourth game in eight days and five starters were out with injury.

"We were kind of tired," Reid said. "I'm not making excuses, give Indiana credit. But we knew it would be very tough to come in here in our current state and beat Indiana."

Yeagley said the first win of the NCAA Tournament is often the most difficult one, especially with a team that relies on as many young players as Indiana does.

He added that he was pleased with his team's composure even after hitting a wall early to come back and find the goal they needed.

The Hoosiers have six 1-0 wins on the season. Would Yeagley have liked his team to score on a few more of their chances early? Sure.

But he'll take advancing to the third round any way he could get it.

"In the tournament, 1-0 wins are the best. They're the best games," Yeagley said. "This group's really confident in a really good way."

Go Hoosiers!

Boxscore within link:
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/11/22/MSOC_1122152524.aspx