Indiana University Athletics
IU PLAYS AT BUTLER AND EVANSVILLE
10/6/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Game Data: Indiana plays two games this week as they play at intrastate rivals Butler and Evansville. The Hoosiers take on Butler Thursday (Oct. 8) at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis at 7:30 p.m. IU plays at Black Beauty Field in Evansville on Sunday (Oct. 11) at 2 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 443-79-37. 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 five of the six weeks this season.
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 31-4-2 in league play over the last seven years and has won the league tournament six times.
Series Matchup: Indiana leads the series with Butler 7-1-0 after defeating the Bulldogs twice last season. IU won during the regular season 6-2 and then 2-1 in three overtimes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Both of those games were played in Bloomington. The Hoosiers do hold a 4-0-0 series edge in game played between the school's in Indianapolis. Indiana and Evansville are meeting for the 24th time and the Hoosiers lead the series 16-4-3. IU won last year's game in Bloomington 2-1 in overtime. The Hoosiers also lead the series in games played at Evansville 5-4-2.
A Look at the Opponents: Butler enters the week 9-1-0 and are on a nine-game winning streak. Stephen Armstrong is the team's leading scorer with 8 goals and 17 points. Jeremy Aldrich (12 points) and Giancarlo Barraza (11 points) are also in double figures. Goalkeeper Ben Anderson has a 0.75 GAA in 10 games. Evansville is 4-6 and plays Southwest Missouri State on Thursday before facing the Hoosiers. Corey Keesler and Mike Anderson led the team with 8 points each.
Last Week Recap: IU played only one game last week and defeated Penn State 1-0 in overtime. Yuri Lavrinenko scored on a header off a free kick by Dema Kovalenko in the 101st minute to finish off the Nittany Lions. The Hoosiers outshot PSU 13-8 and had an edge in corner kicks 11-2.
Tough Defense Earns National Rankings: Indiana has allowed only three goals in 10 games this season and the team GAA stands at a stellar 0.29. In fact, the team has allowed only one goal from scrimmage this year as well. This week the Hoosiers are the top defensive team in the nation as they allow just .29 goals per game. Goalkeeper T.J. Hannig also appears in the NCAA stats as his GAA is second in the nation this week (0.31). This week Indiana is tied for 15th in scoring offense (2.7), 2nd in shutouts per game (.800) and tied for 5th in winning percentage (.900).
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 Penn State was its second such game of the season. However, the Hoosiers are a good overtime team. Over the last 2 1/2 seasons, the Hoosiers have played 10 overtime games and are 7-1-2 in those games. The lone loss in that span was to UCLA in the national semifinals last season.
Deja Vu All Over Again: Indiana's overtime victory over Penn State had a sense of deja vu to it. In the other overtime game of the season vs. the College of Charleston, Lavrinenko scored on an assist from Kovalenko, just like the game at Penn State. The goals also came within one minute of each other (99:58 vs. C of C and 100:41 vs. PSU).
Big Ten Stat Rankings: Dema Kovalenko and Aleksey Korol lead the Big Ten in scoring with 15 and 14 points respectively. Lazo Alavanja is in a tie for third with 13 points and leads the league with 6 assists. Korol is tied for second in assists with 4. T.J. Hannig is the top goalkeeper in the league with a 0.31 GAA. He also leads in shutouts with 8. As a team, the Hoosiers lead the league in scoring with 27 goals and with a 0.29 team GAA.
Hoosier News and Notes: Dema Kovalenko enters the week in 10th on IU's all-time scoring list. He needs three more to take over 9th place. His 79 career points are 16th on the all-time scoring list. He assisted on the game-winning goal at Penn State to give him three on the season. That ties a career-high that he set last year. . .With 28 career assists, Lazo Alavanja is in a three-way tie for ninth place on IU's all-time list. He is also 14th on the all-time scoring list, and 15th on the all-time goals list. . .Goalkeeper T.J. Hannig posted his 18th career shutout against Penn State. His GAA stands at 0.31 heading into the week. He also has eight shutouts this season. . .The Hoosiers have scored 13 first half goals this season while allowing just one in the first 45 minutes. They have out shot their opponents 147 to 60 . . .With the victory over Penn State, the Hoosiers have won 13 consecutive conference games. That streak includes Big Ten Tournament games. The current conference-game unbeaten streak now stands at 20 games (18-0-2). . .The Hoosiers have been spreading the scoring punch around this season as eight different players have scored. Last year, 12 different players scored. . .Head coach Jerry Yeagley has settled on a starting lineup over the last few weeks. Ten players have started all 10 games while Matt Fundenberger has started 8 games.
Next Up: The Hoosiers host a pair of Big Ten opponents in Wisconsin and Northwestern. The Wisconsin game is Friday (Oct. 16) at 7:30 p.m. and the Northwestern contest is Sunday (Oct. 18) at 2 p.m.
© Indiana University Athletics, 1998
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