Indiana University Athletics
HOOSIERS PLAY AT KENTUCKY AND OHIO STATE
10/20/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Game Data: The top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers play a pair of road games this week as they are at Kentucky Wednesday (Oct. 21) at 7:30 p.m. and finish the Big Ten regular season at Ohio State Sunday (Oct. 25) at 2:15 p.m.
Indiana Head Coach Jerry Yeagley is in his 26th year at Indiana and is the winningest coach in collegiate soccer history. He has a career record of 447-79-37. He has led the Hoosiers to national titles in 1982, 1983 and 1988, 11 Final Four appearances and six Big Ten titles.
Hoosiers In the Polls: This week the Hoosiers are ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America and Soccer News polls. Indiana is No. 2 in the NSCAA and Soccer Times rankings. Indiana remains the top team in the Great Lakes Region. Indiana has been ranked No. 1 seven of the eight weeks this season.
Indiana Goes For Outright Big Ten Title: Indiana is 4-0 in conference play and leads the Big Ten. Ohio State and Penn State are in a tie for second at 3-1. If the Hoosiers win at Ohio State they will win the regular season conference title. A victory would mark the fifth regular season title in the eight years the sport has been sponsored by the Big Ten. The top two teams in the league receive a by for the conference postseason tournament which will be played Nov. 13-15 at Northwestern.
Indiana is the Big Ten's Best: Since soccer became a Big Ten sport in 1991, the Hoosiers have been the dominant team in the conference. Indiana is 33-4-2 in league play over the last seven years and has won the league tournament six times.
Series Matchup: Indiana leads the Kentucky series 10-1-0 and have outscored the Wildcats 63-7 in the series. IU won last year's game 9-0 in Bloomington and has won all five previous games played in Bloomington. Indiana and Ohio State are meeting for the 24th time and the Hoosiers have won all 23 previous meetings. Last year IU defeated the Buckeyes 2-0 in the regular season and then 1-0 in the Big Ten championship game. Both of those games were played in Bloomington. Indiana has won all 10 games played between the teams in Columbus.
A Look at the Opponents: Kentucky is 7-7-0 overall and has won all five of their games at home this season. The Wildcats had won seven straight games before dropping their last two. Lee Baker is the team's top scorer with 5-3-13 while Michael Stickler has 4-2-10. Ohio State is 6-5-3 overall but 3-1-0 in league play. Each of Ohio State's conference victories have been shutouts. Craig Tomlinson is the top scorer with 5-3-13. Jon Lowery's GAA is at 0.79.
Korol Misses NU Game: Aleksey Korol missed the Northwestern game with a sprained ankle. He is listed as probable for this week's games according to IU trainer deluxe Joe Lueken. That is the first time a player has missed a game with an injury this season.
Last Week Recap: IU defeated a pair of conference teams in Wisconsin and Northwestern. Ryan Mack scored the first goal in the 3-0 victory over Wisconsin and then Lazo Alavanja scored twice. Dema Kovalenko scored the game-winner against Northwestern in the 57th minute in the 1-0 victory over the Wildcats.
Lots of Offense But No Goals: Depending on how you looked at it the Indiana offense was in either in high gear or sputtering over the weekend. While the team managed to score only four goals in the two games, the offense produced many opportunities. IU combined for 45 shots in the two games which included a season-high tying 23 against Northwestern. Dema Kovalenko led the Hoosier attack with 10 in the two games. Indiana also had 13 corner kicks.
Defense Clicking As Well: Just as the Indiana offense was producing, so too was the Indiana defense. IU allowed only two shots in each game over the weekend which tied a season best. The Hoosiers have shutout all four of their Big Ten opponents this season. Over the last three games, goalkeeper T.J. Hannig has only had to make three saves.
Tough Defense Earns National Rankings: Indiana has allowed only four goals in 14 games this season and the team GAA stands at a stellar 0.28. This week the Hoosiers are the top defensive team in the nation, allowing just .276 goals per game and in shutouts per game at .768 (11 of 14). Goalkeeper T.J. Hannig also appears in the NCAA stats as his GAA is first in the nation this week (0.29). This week Indiana is tied for 19th in scoring offense (2.57) and tied for 2nd in winning percentage (.929).
Have to Shut Them Out: If a team is going to beat Indiana they have to shut them out. In Indiana's last seven losses (which dates back to Oct. 13, 1995), the Hoosiers have been shutout each time. The last time Indiana scored at least one goal and lost was Oct. 8, 1995 at Bowling Green (2-1).
Extra Time: Indiana's overtime victory over Evansville was its third such game of the season. However, the Hoosiers are a good overtime team. Over the last 2 1/2 seasons, the Hoosiers have played 11 overtime games and are 8-1-2 in those games. The lone loss in that span was to UCLA in the national semifinals last season.
Big Ten Stat Rankings: Aleksey Korol leads the Big Ten in scoring with 21 points (8 goals and 5 assists) while Lazo Alavanja is second (6-7-19) and Dema Kovalenko third (7-4-18). Alavanja's seven assists leads the league while Korol's and Matt Fundenberger's total of 5 is tied for third. Korol's 8 goals is also the top mark in the conference. T.J. Hannig is the top goalkeeper in the league with a 0.28 GAA. He also leads in shutouts with 11. As a team, the Hoosiers lead the league in scoring with 36 goals and with a 0.28 team GAA.
Hoosier News and Notes: The Hoosiers have registered 20 or more shots four times this season. By contrast, they have allowed five or fewer shots seven times. Dema Kovalenko enters the week 10th on IU's all-time goals list. He needs one more to take over 9th place. His 83 career points are tied for 16th on the all-time scoring list. His 4 assists this year are a career bestLazo Alavanja's 30 career assists is 8th on IU's all-time list. He is also 13th on the all-time scoring list (90), and 14th on the all-time goals list (30)Goalkeeper T.J. Hannig posted his 21st career shutout against Northwestern. His GAA stands at 0.29 heading into the week. The school record for a season is 0.26 by John Putna set in 1979. He also has 11 shutouts this seasonThe Hoosiers have scored 15 first half goals this season while allowing just one in the first 45 minutes. They have out shot their opponents 224 to 79. That's an average of 16-5.6 per gameThe Hoosiers enter the Ohio State game having won 15 consecutive conference games. That streak includes Big Ten Tournament games. The current conference-game unbeaten streak now stands at 22 games (20-0-2).
Next Up: The Hoosiers finish the regular season at the UCLA Classic Los Angeles. Indiana plays Loyola Marymount Friday (Oct. 30) at 5:30 p.m. PST and then takes on No. 2 UCLA Sunday (Nov. 1) at 1 p.m. PST.
© Indiana University Athletics, 1998
