Indiana University Athletics
Men's Soccer Weekly Press Release
12/9/1997 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Men's Soccer Weekly Press Release
GAME DATA: The Indiana soccer team (23-0-0) continues its quest for a fourth national title at the NCAA Final Four in Richmond, Va. The Hoosiers will match up with UCLA in the first national semifinal at 3:30 p.m. EST. That game will be followed by Virginia and Saint Louis at 6 p.m. Sunday's national championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Final Four matches the No. 1 Hoosiers, No. 3 Bruins, No. 4 Cavaliers and the No. 14 Billikens.
TV: Both of the semifinals and the national championship will be televised on Fox Sports Net. Check local listings for stations in your area.
RADIO: All of Indiana's games in the NCAA Final Four will be broadcast on Bloomington's WGCL (AM 1370). Chris Doran handles the play-by-play with former Indiana All-America and College Soccer Player of the Year Todd Yeagley adding commentary.
HOOSIERS IN THE FINAL FOUR: Indiana is making its 11th Final Four appearance in 22 NCAA Tournaments and its first since 1994. Indiana has a 7-6 overall record in Final Four play which includes a 3-4 record in national championship games. This is Indiana's third appearance in the Final Four in the 1990's (1991 & 1994).
HOOSIERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Indiana is in its 22nd NCAA appearance which now ties the Hoosiers for the fourth-highest mark in NCAA history. This season marks the 11th-consecutive NCAA berth for the Hoosiers which is an NCAA record. The Hoosiers have the second best winning percentage in NCAA history at .714 (45-18). IU has won the title three times PJ1982, 1983 & 1988 P which is the fourth best mark in NCAA history. Indiana's 45 tournament victories is second on the all-time list as is its 11 Final Four appearances. The Hoosiers are 36-3 at home in NCAA play.
HOOSIERS DOMINATE USF: Indiana dominated South Florida taking a 6-0 decision to earn its 11th trip to the Final Four. Aleksey Korol scored two first half goals to give IU a 2-0 halftime lead. Chris Klein then scored twice and Yuri Lavrinenko and Dennis Fadeski each added goals for the final. The Hoosiers outshot the Bulls 18-10 but IU goalkeepers T.J. Hannig and Joe Zarr were forced to make only three saves. IU defender Nick Garcia made a save which held a 1-0 lead and that was the best scoring chance the Bulls had all day.
HOOSIERS "BOWL" A STRIKE: IU pulled off a repeat of last season's performance, defeating Bowling Green, 4-0 to advance to the third round of the NCAAs. Forward Dema Kovalenko scored the Hoosiers' first two goals, the first just 1:58 into the game and the second at the 70:03 mark as IU posted its 12th shutout of the season. Indiana also received goals from Lazo Alavanja and Matt Fundenberger as they outshot the Falcons 21-7. Kovalenko's two goals give him 20 on the year, the first time a Hoosier has accomplished that feat since 1989 (Ken Snow).
IU ADVANCES IN OT: Indiana advanced to the second round of the NCAA's with a thrilling 2-1 triple overtime victory over Butler. Lazo Alavanja scored in the ninth minute for a 1-0 Indiana lead. IU appeared on its way to victory until Butler's Craig Donaldson scored from 40 yards out in the 82nd minute to tie the game. The teams remained tied at 1-1 through the first 30 minutes of overtime before starting to play sudden death. Matt Fundenberger headed home a Nick Garcia cross in the 124th minute for the victory. Indiana outshot the Bulldogs 18-5 and held an edge in corner kicks 7-2.
IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN BUT HOPEFULLY WITH A DIFFERENT RESULT: The last time Indiana went to the Final Four, the Hoosiers played UCLA in the semifinals and then Virginia in the final game. The Hoosiers are looking for a repeat against the Bruins as they won 4-1 but are looking to avenge a 1-0 loss in the national championship game if the teams should meet in the final game.
INDIANA-UCLA SERIES: Indiana and UCLA are meeting for the 10th time on the soccer field. Indiana leads the series 5-4-0 after UCLA won the last game 1-0 in overtime last season at Indiana's adidas Classic to start the season. The teams have met only once in NCAA Tournament play and that was in the 1994 national semifinals.
INDIANA-SAINT LOUIS SERIES: Indiana and Saint Louis would be meeting for the 28th time on the soccer field. Indiana leads the series 18-6-3 after winning the last game 1-0 in 1995. The teams have met three times in NCAA Tournament play with the Hoosiers winning all three games.
INDIANA-VIRGINIA SERIES: Indiana and Virginia would be meeting for the seventh time on the soccer field. Indiana leads the series 3-2-1 after UVA's 1-0 victory in the 1994 national championship game. The teams have met twice in NCAA Tournament play and have split those two meetings.
ALAVANJA NAMED MAC FINALIST: Junior midfielder Lazo Alavanja is one of four finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year Award. Alavanja joins forward Johnny Torres of Creighton, midfielder Daniel Hernandez of SMU and defender Leo Cullen of Maryland.
MORE FINALISTS: The Hoosiers also have two of the finalists for the nation's other Player of the Year award. The Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation's top player, will be presented at the Final Four in Richmond, Virginia. Sophomore forward Dema Kovalenko and senior midfielder Caleb Porter were both named finalists for the award two weeks ago.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Indiana defeated Bowling Green for the second straight year in the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Hoosiers beat the Falcons, 2-0 before falling to Florida International in the third round.
CAN IT BE DONE? 25 IN THE 25th: As the Hoosiers enter the NCAA Final Four they have a chance to go undefeated and untied if they were to win the title. Indiana is now 23-0-0 and by winning the next two games necessary to win the title, the Hoosiers would finish 25-0-0 in head coach Jerry Yeagley's 25th year. This is the 39th NCAA Soccer Tournament and there have been only six previous team that have gone through the entire season undefeated and untied and captured the title. The last to do it was Howard in 1974 at 19-0-0. Others to accomplish this were West Chester in 1961 (12-0-0), Navy in 1964 (15-0-0), Saint Louis in 1965 (14-0-0) and 1969 (13-0-0) and Howard in 1971 (15-0-0). There have been seven other teams that have gone undefeated but have had at least one tie. The last undefeated, but tied, team to win the title was San Francisco in 1980 (24-0-2). Jerry Yeagley played at West Chester and was part of the 1961 team.
INDIANA HEAD COACH JERRY YEAGLEY: The Indiana mentor is in his 25th year at the helm of the Hoosiers. He was selected last week as the 1997 Big Ten Coach of the Year. He has a career record of 434-77-37. He has led IU to national titles in 1982, 1983 and 1988, 11 Final Four appearances and either a Big Ten postseason tournament or regular season title in each of the seven years the conference has sponsored soccer.
INDIANA WINS BIG TEN TOURNAMENT: Indiana advanced to the NCAAs by winning the Big Ten Tournament. IU defeated Penn State 4-0 in the semifinals and then knocked-off Ohio State 1-0 in the final. The tournament title was Indiana's sixth in seven years. Indiana won five previous tournaments and was declared co-champions once (1995) giving the school six titles in seven years. All-time in the conference tournament the Hoosiers are 11-1-1 (the tie was decided by penalty kicks which the Hoosiers won 3-2). The Hoosiers have outscored their opponents in tournament play 29-7.
BIG TEN REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS AGAIN: Indiana was also the conference's regular season champion. IU's perfect 5-0-0 conference record was the third time the Hoosiers have accomplished an undefeated and untied league season since the conference began sponsoring the sport in 1991 (IU was 4-0-1 last season). This title is also Indiana's sixth regular season crown in seven years. Indiana is the only team to win both the regular season and postseason tournament in the same year and they have done it three times P 1991, 1996 & 1997.
ALL-BIG TEN IS ALL(MOST)-INDIANA: The Big Ten announced its all-conference teams during the postseason tournament and it looked quite like the Indiana starting lineup. Eight Hoosiers earned first team honors while another was a second team selection. Aleksey Korol, Dema Kovalenko, Lazo Alavanja, Chris Klein, Yuri Lavrinenko, Caleb Porter, Nick Garcia and Andy Parrish were all first team picks while Gino DiGuardi was the second team pick. Alavanja was the conference's Player of the Year, Garcia was the Freshman of the Year and Coach Jerry Yeagley was the Coach of the Year.
HOOSIERS RANKED NO. 1: Indiana is the No. 1 team in the nation this week according to all three national polls. The Hoosiers have been No. 1 for the last 14 weeks in at least one poll and the consensus No. 1 team in the nation over the last 13 weeks.
HOOSIERS RECORD PERFECT REGULAR SEASON: Indiana finished the regular season with a perfect 18-0-0 regular season. This perfect mark beats the previous best start in school history which was 16-0-0 in 1978. Indiana's 21-game winning streak is now the longest in school history breaking the mark of 16 set in 1978 and 1987. Believe or not, this is the first time in school history Indiana has gone through the regular season without a loss. The best marks to date were in 1983 and 1984 when they lost once during the regular season in each year. However, in 1983 IU had four ties and in 1984 had two more ties.
TRIUMPHANT TRIO: The Ukrainian trio of Dema Kovalenko, Aleksey Korol and Yuri Lavrinenko have accounted for almost half of the Hoosiers goals this season (40 of 83). At least one of the three has scored in every game, with the exception three. The trio has also each scored in a game twice this season (vs. California and Wisconsin) and three times in their career (vs. Akron last year).
AN IMPRESSIVE STREAK: By finishing the regular season 18-0-0, the Hoosiers have now posted an impressive 30-2-2 record in the last two regular seasons. Since the beginning of 1996, the Hoosiers are 38-3-3 including the 23-0-0 mark this season. IU also has a 16 game home-winning streak, two short of the school record set in 1980-1981.
SCORING SUMMARY: Indiana has scored 83 goals this season which is the most IU has tallied since 1983 when they had 88. It also marks an increase in each of the last two years. Indiana managed to score just 35 goals (a school record low) in 1995 but followed that by scoring 58 last year and 83 this season. The 83 goals is tied for fourth on the all-time list.
COMEBACK KIDS: Indiana has come-from-behind five times this season to record victories. The first was against Rutgers as the Hoosiers rallied three times to overtake the Scarlet Knights. The 4-3 overtime win marked the first time in school history the team had come back three different times in a game to win. Other comebacks were against Butler (down 2-0 won 6-2), Evansville (down 1-0 won 2-1 in overtime), at Wisconsin (down 1-0 won 4-1) and vs. Stanford (down 1-0 won 2-1). Indiana has played 1,940 minutes this season and has been down only 128:53 of that time which equals out to about being behind just 6.6% of the entire season.
23 WINS TIES SCHOOL RECORD: The Hoosiers now have 23 wins this season which ties a school record set previously in 1978 and 1994.
23-GAME WINNING STREAK IS A SCHOOL RECORD: Indiana's 23-game winning streak is a school record. The previous record was 16 set in 1978 and 1987.
PERFECT AT HOME: Indiana was a perfect 13-0-0 at home this season and finished 1997 with a 17-game winning streak at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
PERFECT PK'S: Indiana is a perfect 5-5 on penalty kicks this season. Yuri Lavrinenko has been the best making 3-3. Lazo Alavanja and Dema Kovalenko connected on the other two.
CAPTAINS HAVE EXPERIENCE: Indiana's captains this season are seniors Chris Klein and Caleb Porter. Those are the only two players on this year's squad who played in the 1994 Final Four. J.T. Cerroni was also on that team but did not play. Both Klein and Porter each played in the semifinals and finals in 1994.
COMPARISON OF 1994 and 1997: Many have said the 1994 team was Jerry
Yeagley's best at Indiana but this 1997 team has started a debate as to
which was a better team. Here are some stats and we'll let you decide.
| 1994 | 1997 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | 23 | 23 (thru 12/7) |
| Goals | 68 | 83 |
| Assists | 55 | 67 |
| Points | 191 | 233 |
| Shots | 401 | 368 |
| Goals Against Average | 0.49 | 0.55 |
| Players with 20+points | 4 | 6 |
INDIANA NOTEBOOK: Indiana could have as many as two games left, giving them a projected goal total of 88 goals, six short of the school record of 94, set in 1976... Indiana's 23 wins did not come against an easy schedule by any stretch of the imagination. Eleven of the teams (12 games) they defeated were ranked when they played them or were ranked at some point during the season... The Hoosiers have allowed just 13 goals this season, the lowest total since 1993 and 1994 when the Hoosiers gave up 13... IU is on pace to set a new school record for fewest goalkeeper saves in a season. The record is 50 but so far this year IU 'keepers have only 44. Along those same lines, the 'keepers have not had to make a save in six games this season adding to the school record which was 21 coming into the season (now at 27 times)... Indiana also won three exhibition games this season for a total of 26 wins in 1997... IU allowed only two opponents double figures in shots this season(Duke 13 and South Florida 10)... The 23-0-0 record assures the Hoosiers of the best winning percentage in school history. The current mark is .925 (18-1-1) in 1976.
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