Indiana University Athletics
HOOSIERS HOST 16TH ANNUAL adidas CLASSIC
8/31/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
HOOSIERS HOST 16TH ANNUAL adidas CLASSIC
Game Data: The Indiana soccer team hosts the 16th annual adidas Classic this Friday and Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the Indiana campus.
Indiana Head Coach: Jerry Yeagleyis in his 26th year at Indiana. He has a career record of 434-78-37. He has led the Hoosiers to national titles in 1982, 1983 and 1988, 11 Final Four appearances and six Big Ten titles.
Series Record: Indiana leads the series with the College of Charleston2-0-0. The last meeting was in 1996 and the Hoosiers won 2-1 in Charleston. The Hoosiers also lead the series 2-0-0 over California. The teams met last year and the Hoosiers won 3-1 in the final regular season game in Berkeley. This week's games will be the first in Bloomington between the teams.
Exhibition Recap: The Hoosiers split two exhibition games over the last two weeks as they prepared for the opening of the season. Last Saturday, Indiana won the Golden Boot exhibition as they defeated Louisville 2-0. Dema Kovalenko and Lazo Alavanja were the goal scorers. Alavanja and Ryan mack led the team with four shots each. Two weeks ago, IU played at Saint Louis. IU outshot the Billikens 17-2 but lost 1-0 on a Dominic DaPra goal in the 54th minute. Indiana also had 12 corner kicks to SLU's 1. Aleksey Korol led the Hoosiers with five shots while Lazo Alavanja had four.
In the two games, the Hoosiers amassed 34 shots to the opponents 6 and held an advantage in corner kicks 15-3. Alavanja led the team in the two games with 8 shots while Ryan mack and Aleksey Korol each had 6. Goalkeeper T.J. Hannig played all 180 minutes in goal and made 4 saves. His goals against average in the two games was 0.50.
Last Year's Tournament: Indiana won last year's tournament with victories over Rutgers (4-3) and Clemson (3-0). In the Rutgers game, the Hoosiers came from behind three different times to win the game. That was the first time in school history that had happened. Current Hoosiers Lazo Alavanja, Dema Kovalenko, Yuri Lavrinenko were named to the all-tournament team. Alavanja was selected as the tournament's MVP.
A Look Back: Indiana had one of the greatest seasons of any college soccer team in history last season as they finished the year 23-1. The Hoosiers were 23-0 before losing in the national semifinals 1-0 to eventual national champion UCLA. The team set a school record by winning 23 consecutive games. The Hoosiers also won their sixth Big Ten title in the seven years the conference has sponsored the sport.
What's Returning: Eight starters return to this year's team, including six of the top seven scorers from a year ago. Leading the list of returnees are 1997 Big Ten Player of the Year and All-American Lazo Alavanja and All-American Dema Kovalenko. Kovalenko led the team in scoring last year with 20 goals and 43 points. Alavanja had 9 goals and 11 assists for 29 points. Other returnees include Aleksey Korol (14g, 7 a, 35 pts), Matt Fundenberger (13-2-28), Yuri Lavrinenko (6-14-26), Big Ten and National Freshman of the Year Nick Garcia (3-2-8) and goalkeeper T.J. Hannig (19-1, 0.54 GAA). Freshmen Ryan Mack, Matt Thompson and Jason Jorgensen should all be vying for time somewhere as well.
Hoosiers Ranked Second in First Poll: Indiana is ranked second in Soccer America's Preseason Poll. The Hoosiers were ranked No. 1 all of last season. Indiana is ranked third in the preseason NSCAA rankings.
Hoosiers Named All-American: Soccer America released preseason All-American teams and four Indiana players have made either the first or second teams. Lazo Alavanja, Dema Kovalenko and Nick Garcia were named first team All-Americans while Aleksey Korol begins the season as a second team selection.
Hoosiers Named Finalists for Hermann Trophy: Three Indiana players -- Lazo Alavanja, Nick Garcia and Dema Kovalenko -- head the 15 finalists for the 1998 Hermann Trophy. Two players each from Duke, Virginia and North Carolina are also among the finalists. The winner will be announced Dec. 12 at the Soccer America FanZone in Richmond, Va.
© Indiana University Athletics, 1998
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