No. 4 Hoosiers Head to Wisconsin on Friday / scoreless draw

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team will head north to face Big Ten rival Wisconsin on Friday.

Kickoff in Madison, Wisc. is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET, with the match being streamed live on BTN Plus. Live stats for the match can be found at IUHoosiers.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team enters Friday's contest with the Wisconsin Badgers with an overall record of 8-1-5 on the year, including a mark of 2-0-4 in Big Ten play.
• Last Saturday, the Hoosiers battled back from a goal down at Ohio State twice, earning a 2-2 draw with the Buckeyes in Columbus. Jeremiah Gutjahr scored his first career goal, while Billy McConnell notched the tying score with just eight minutes left in regulation.
• MF Tanner Thompson and F Richard Ballard lead the Hoosiers' offense, with each accounting for a team-high 13 points on the strength of four goals and two assists on the season apiece.
• In goal, Colin Webb has posted seven shutouts on the season for IU - tops in the Big Ten.
• 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.
• The Hoosiers come in to the 2016 season coming off another terrific season in 2015, reaching the NCAA Tournament for a record 29-straight season and 40th overall in program history.

SCOUTING THE BADGERS
• The Wisconsin Badgers enter Friday's match with the Hoosiers with an overall record of 8-3-2 on the season, including a 3-2-1 mark in Big Ten play.
• Wisconsin is playing their best soccer of the season, posting a 5-1-1 record over the team's last seven matches.
• The Badgers had the No. 1 Maryland Terrapins on the ropes in College Park last Friday, taking a 2-1 lead in to the final minutes only to see UMD score a late equalizer and then win in overtime.
• Wisconsin has faced two ranked opponents this season - drawing with Michigan State and falling in overtime to Maryland.
• In a preseason poll conducted of the Big Ten's coaches, Ohio State was tabbed to finish seventh in the league. Sam Brotherton, Alex Masbruch and Chris Mueller were named to the Big Ten Preseason Honors List.
• Last season, Wisconsin finished with an overall record of 5-11-3 on the season that included a mark of 2-3-3 in the Big Ten. In the conference tournament, the Hoosiers beat the Badgers, 1-0, to end their season.

SERIES HISTORY
• In the overall history between Indiana and Wisconsin dating back to 1975, the Hoosiers hold a record of 38-5-6 record over the Badgers.
• The Hoosiers won both their meetings with Wisconsin last season, beating the Badgers, 1-0 in Bloomington during the regular season and 1-0 again at Armstrong Stadium in the Big Ten Tournament.
• Overall, Indiana is 11-4-4 against the Badgers in Madison. IU has outscored OSU, 105-23, in the overall series.

HOOSIERS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
• Indiana checks in at No. 4 in the Soccer America poll, No. 6 by College Soccer News, No. 7 in the NSCAA Coaches rankings and No. 14 by Top Drawer Soccer.
• In the fourth NCAA RPI rankings released on Monday, the Hoosiers are ranked No. 29.

IU IN THE STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Tuesday, the Hoosiers rank second in the nation in shots per game (17.57), 21st in shutout percentage (0.50) and 32nd in team goals against average (0.79).

UP NEXT
• The Indiana Hoosiers will return to Bloomington to host the Saint Louis Billikens on Tuesday, October 25 at 7 p.m. ET.
• In the overall series, Indiana leads Saint Louis, 22-9-4, out-scoring the Badgers, 68-41.

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

Live stats and game notes within:
http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/10/20/mens-soccer-no-4-hoosiers-head-to-wisconsin-on-friday.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

[snowling]

IU set for important road battle at Wisconsin
by Zain Pyarali

The Hoosier men’s soccer team hasn’t dropped a conference match all season. Although they’ve tied on four separate occasions, IU hasn’t had a loss against any Big Ten team.

However, that could easily change when IU (8-1-5, 2-0-4) visits Wisconsin (8-3-2, 3-2-1) on Friday night in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin hasn’t lost a home game all season, which is good for a perfect 6-0 record, and has either won or earned a draw in six of its past seven games. The only loss for the Badgers in that span came in a 3-2 overtime battle last week at No. 1 Maryland.

IU Coach Todd Yeagley is all too familiar with the grounds in Madison. His first head coaching job was with the Badgers in 2009 before he returned to IU, where he was a four-time All-American as a player, after one season in Wisconsin.

“It’s a tight field. I think they have a good confidence there, like any team at home, maybe more so them than others,” Yeagley said. “This is a good Wisconsin team. They have some very good talent, so they’re going to be very confident, and this game is very important for them as well. It should be a great game.”

The Hoosiers and Badgers are tied for second in the conference with Michigan State at 10 points a piece. IU’s win percentage is better than both Wisconsin and Michigan State, which gives IU an edge. The Hoosiers still have to face both teams in the last two games of the conference season.

IU and Wisconsin match up well with each other on paper heading into Friday night’s game. The Badgers have the edge by one in goals scored while the Hoosiers have allowed two more goals on the defensive side this year.

Yeagley said he thought Wisconsin had a good team last year but some things didn’t exactly go the way the Badgers had hoped and their 5-11-3 record wasn’t indicative of the talent they had. He was also quick to point out a couple of key battle-tested juniors on Wisconsin that have risen to the occasion as of late.

“They’re capable of breaking you down off their passing like we are, and they’re also capable of good bypassing and going direct like we are too,” Yeagley said. “They’re adaptable, they are balanced and have players like us that can beat you off the dribble, and they’re also very dangerous on restarts.”

The balanced Badgers have six players with two or more goals on the year while the Hoosiers have five different players with that amount. Yeagley said although Wisconsin has players that look and play a little differently from his team, they’re still effective in similar ways.

It may very well come down to where the ball falls on the pitch and if the Hoosiers can catch a break if they want to put an end to the Badgers’ undefeated home record. The Ohio State Buckeyes were able to catch a break after IU senior goalkeeper Colin Webb wasn’t able to successfully clear a ball last match, and the Buckeyes were able to draw the Hoosiers.

Yeagley said that it’s the little breaks that could be the difference in this game.

“They have a couple weapons like we do. It’s just who will be sharper in those areas and who will catch the breaks,” Yeagley said. “Ball drops advantageously in the right spot, and we’re certainly looking to create those opportunities to get a ball to bounce our way on the night and finish off a play.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/10/iu-set-for-important-road-battle-at-wisconsin

Go Hoosiers!

 

[GeddyHoosier]

This looks like a tough game. Wisky pretty decent this year.

 

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Scoreless, going to OT.
UW with a 17-7 shot advantage, 5-3 SOG.

1st OT - Wisky had no shots; IU pushing hard with 4 shots with 2 SOG.
2nd OT - Wisky had 1 shot; IU had 3 shots with 1 SOG.

Another draw for Indiana in what seemed to be a hard fought, physically match. The final 2 matches are in Bloomington.

Go Hoosiers!

 

[snowling]

Hoosiers draw Badgers on the road
by Zain Pyarali

The IU men’s soccer team hadn’t earned a negative result during a Big Ten conference game all season, however Wisconsin hadn’t dropped a match at home this year either.

One of those would have to give on Friday when the Hoosiers traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to play the Badgers. Neither team folded on defense as Wisconsin didn’t emerge victorious on its home pitch for the first time all season drawing IU 0-0.

Backup senior goalkeeper Christian Lomeli was called upon to make his first career start in replace of senior goalie Colin Webb. Although IU was outshot by the Badgers by 10 in regulation Lomeli and the Hoosier defense didn’t break.

Wisconsin had controlled the bulk of the possession throughout the entire first half and early into the second period. With 30 minutes to play in the game, IU was being outshot 15-4 by Wisconsin but the Hoosiers started to get more quality shots as the game dwindled down the stretch.

The best look on the night however came from the Badgers. In the 81st minute, Wisconsin forward Christop Mueller almost found the game winner in a 0-0 match. Mueller was fouled at the top of the 20-foot box and proceeded to take a free kick with a wall of six Hoosiers standing in front of Lomeli.

Mueller’s shot curled left off of his foot as the ball nailed the crossbar and the Hoosiers were able to catch a break on defense.

The Hoosiers controlled the final 30 minutes of regulation and both 10 minute overtime periods, outshooting the Badgers 10-3 in the final 50 minutes of the game.

In the first period of extra time, IU was packing in the box on offense and outshot Wisconsin 4-0 but a few key stops by Badger goalie Phillip Schilling was able to keep IU off the scoreboard.

With three minutes remaining the game, the Hoosiers were able to reel off four consecutive corner kicks by way of aggressive play from sophomore midfielder Trevor Swartz. As IU was unable to convert on all of these occasions, the game ended with IU’s sixth tie of the season and fifth draw in Big Ten play.

Senior defender captain Derek Creviston also didn’t play on Friday night a long with Webb after starting each of the Hoosiers 57 games over the past three seasons. Sophomore defender Timmy Mehl stepped up once again for IU, making his fourth career start this time in place of Creviston.

With the draw the Hoosiers now sit at 2-0-5 in conference with two regular season games remaining and one conference game left against Michigan State at home on Oct. 30.

IU now slips to third, tied with Wisconsin, in the Big Ten table with 11 points behind Penn State. The Spartans are fifth with 10 points in the conference meaning that the Hoosiers last Big Ten game is a must-win for them if they want to have home field advantage in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

IU will wrap up the regular season at home by playing St. Louis on Tuesday before ending the year with Michigan State next Sunday.

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/10/hoosiers-draw-badgers-on-the-road

Go Hoosiers!

 

[baileyiu]

Another major disappointment! We have now played 7 Big Ten games and won only 2 - this is no where near the standards of IU and championship soccer. We didn't lose, but the goal is to win games. We used to dominate the B1G - not any longer. I don't understand how we are rated so high.

 

[snowling]

No. 4 Indiana Earns Draw at Wisconsin

MADISON, Wisc. – The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team played the Wisconsin Badgers to a 0-0 draw on Friday night in Madison, Wisc. at the McClimon Soccer Complex.

With the team's sixth draw of the year, Indiana moves to 8-1-6 on the season overall and to 2-0-5 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin goes to 8-3-3 on the year and to 3-2-2 in league action. The six draws are the most in the NCAA this year and are the most for IU since posting a 13-3-6 mark in 2005.

In his first career start in goal for the Hoosiers, Christian Lomeli had a great game, posting his first shutout at IU, making five saves.

Offensively, Trevor Swartz led Indiana with six shots on the night, getting two on goal. Tanner Thompson had three shots, getting one on net.

In a balanced game, the Badgers were able to hold the Hoosier offense to just seven shots in regulations while taking 18 of their own. Overtime was a different story, however, as IU was dominant, out-shooting Wisconsin 7-1 and not allowing the Badgers a good look on goal.

In the first overtime, Swartz had a nice look at goal, but his shot from six yards off to the right was saved by the Wisconsin keeper. Just seconds later, Austin Panchot's curling effort from the top of the box was also saved.

Just over three minutes in to the second overtime, Thompson had a great shot on goal, but his shot from just outside the box was saved on a dive by the Badger goalie.

Later, IU had four consecutive corner kicks, but the Wisconsin defense was able to hold, keeping the game scoreless, holding on for the draw.

The No. 4 Indiana Hoosiers will return to Bloomington, Ind. to host the Saint Louis Billikens on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

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

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/10/21/mens-soccer-no-4-indiana-earns-draw-at-wisconsin.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

[RBB89]

Another major disappointment! We have now played 7 Big Ten games and won only 2 - this is no where near the standards of IU and championship soccer. We didn't lose, but the goal is to win games. We used to dominate the B1G - not any longer. I don't understand how we are rated so high.

Overreact much? They've got to find ways to score, that's a real issue. They're rated so high because they're still really good.

And I hate to break it to you, but we're never going to just streamroll over everybody again. Far too much parity for that now.

 

[baileyiu]

Overreact much? They've got to find ways to score, that's a real issue. They're rated so high because they're still really good.

And I hate to break it to you, but we're never going to just streamroll over everybody again. Far too much parity for that now.

 

[baileyiu]

We have won 8 of 15 games overall & 2 of 7 in B1G. THAT is not Championship soccer. I agree there is more parity in B1G soccer, but 2 wins in 7 games is mediocre at best.

 

[GeddyHoosier]

We all got spoiled by Jerry Yeagley, especially his last 7 or 8 years when we did steamroll everyone year after year after year. He was just an unbelievable coach-the finest ever at his sport. IU soccer is still a very good program, but doubt we'll ever relive the Jerry days, even with his son as coach.