Indiana University Athletics
HOOSIERS WIN BIG TEN TITLE
11/15/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Evanston, Ill. -- The Indiana soccer team has had a knack for going into overtime this season against Big Ten opponents and coming out with a 1-0 victory. And such was the case Sunday as the Hoosiers won their seventh Big Ten title in eight years over Penn State.
When the teams met earlier in the season in Pennsylvania, the Hoosiers scored midway through the first overtime for the 1-0 victory. This time it took less time as Lazo Alavanja scored just two minutes into the first extra period for the eventual game-winner.
But before that Alavanja's goal, there was plenty of action in regulation which resulted in both teams having quality opportunities to win the game.
Perhaps the best chance either team had came with a minute to play in regulation. A Penn State player crossed the ball into the Indiana penalty area and goalkeeper T.J. Hannig misplayed the ball and it bounced back off his head to the Lions' Ricardo Villar who found himself with the ball and an empty net just four yards in front of him.
Villar rushed the shot and it went to the right allowing IU's Nick Garcia to stop the ball at the goal line to save the game. Just 20 seconds after that, Hannig had to punch a long shot over the crossbar.
"I thought the ball was going over my head," Hannig said. "Lucky for us he mishit the shot."
Indiana's goal came on a nice piece of combination play from the midfielders. Yuri Lavrinenko gathered a pass from the defenders in the center of the field and made a long pass to his left looking for Alavanja.
The ball was flicked ahead by Dema Kovalenko to Alavanja who then found himself one-on-one with PSU goalkeeper Whit Gibson. Alavanja wasted no time in gathering the ball and blasting a shot from 15 yards out into the lower right portion of the goal.
"There were always parts of the game where I thought they would score," Alavanja said. "I don't think we played our best today but we gave it our all. On my goal I got a great pass and was just able to put it past the 'keeper."
This was one of the most closely played games the Hoosiers had all season.
"I have to credit Penn State," Indiana head coach Jerry Yeagley said. "They fought us tooth and nail. I thought we missed many opportunities today but a lot of conference games are difficult. But with the talent we have we should be able to find a way to score and we did."
While Alavanja scored the game-winner, Hannig was the Hoosiers defensive MVP of the game. He made five saves in the game and did a good job of grabbing crosses and corner kicks. Before that last misplay, he made an excellent diving save on a one-on-one situation against Greg Oldfield to keep the game scoreless.
The Hoosiers are now 18-2 on the season and will await a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The pairings will be announced Monday night at 9 p.m.
Scoring summary
IU: 91:59 - Alavanja (Lavrinenko) IU led 19-15 in shot attempts
© Indiana University Athletics, 1998
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