Indiana University Athletics
HOOSIERS TRAVEL TO DALLAS FOR SMU/NIKE CLASSIC
9/7/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
HOOSIERS TRAVEL TO DALLAS FOR SMU/NIKE CLASSIC
Game Data: The Indiana soccer team travels to Dallas, Texas this weekend for the SMU/Nike Classic. The Hoosiers play Florida International Friday (Sept. 11) at 5:30 p.m. and then the host Mustangs Saturday (Sept. 12) at 7:30 p.m. Creighton is the other team in tournament.
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 436-78-37. He has led the Hoosiers to national titles in 1982, 1983 and 1988, 11 Final Four appearances and six Big Ten titles.
Hoosiers Top Poll: Indiana is ranked first in this week's Soccer News pool. Last week IU was second in Soccer America's Preseason Poll and third in the preseason NSCAA rankings. The Hoosiers were ranked No. 1 all of last season.
Series Record: Indiana and Florida International are meeting for the seventh time. The Golden Panthers lead the series 3-2-1. The teams last met in the 1996 NCAA Quarterfinals, a game FIU won 1-0. Indiana leads the series with SMU 2-1-1. The last time these teams met was in the 1991 NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers won that game 4-3 on penalty kicks to advance to the Final Four.
A Look at the Opponents: Florida International is off to a 1-2 start after losing to Clemson (1-0) and Radford (2-1) last weekend. Andy Valenson is the team's top scorer at 2-1-5. Goalkeeper Wally Christensen has played in two games and has a GAA of 1.50. SMU defeated Centenary 5-1 in their only action of the season so far. Carl Bussey scored two goals in the game as the team amassed 24 shots. The SMU defense held Centenary to just three shots and no saves had to be made in the game.
Last Week Recap: The Hoosiers opened the season by winning the Indiana adidas Classic. IU defeated the College of Charleston 1-0 in overtime in the first game and then knocked-off California 2-0 to win the title. Yuri Lavrinenko scored the lone goal in the first game at the 99:58 mark. Freshman Ryan Mack and Dema Kovalenko scored the goals against Cal. The Hoosiers dominated the pace of play in both games as they outshot their opponents 22-9 and registered 18 corner kicks to just 1. However, on the 9 opponent shots, IU's T.J. Hannig did have to make 6 saves.
Quoting the Coach: "We need to get better. "This is a good team. We're capable of playing like we did that first 20 minutes for more sustained periods of time. But it's not like we didn't do some good things. We persevered. We played two pretty doggone good teams this weekend, gave up no goals, allowed just five shots apiece, and gave Cal no corner-kicks. We just need to get things together more consistently."
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.
Streaking Hoosiers: Indiana's two victories last weekend gives it a 26-game regular season winning streak which dates back to Oct. 18, 1996. Since that game against Wisconsin, the Hoosiers have gone 34-2-1 over their last 37 games.
Hoosier News and Notes: Dema Kovalenko scored his 31st career goal against Cal. That places him 13th on the all-time IU list. He needs just three more to take over 10th place. His 68 career points are now tied for 18th on the all-time scoring list after adding an assist in the Charleston game. . .Yuri Lavrinenko scored the third game-winning goal of his career against Charleston. . . The only freshman to start over the weekend was Ryan Mack. The prep All-American did not disappoint as he played 187 of a possible 190 minutes and scored the game-winner against Cal. He was second on the team in shots in the two games with 4 (Kovalenko led the team with 5). . . The other player to get into scoring column over the weekend was Matt Fundenberger. The sophomore had an assist on Mack's goal. He also tied Mack with 4 shots for the second best mark on the team. . . Goalkeeper T.J. Hannig had both shutouts over the weekend, but he had to work them. The sophomore had to make 4 saves against Charleston and 2 against Cal. The shutouts were the 11th and 12th of his career. He now has a career goals against average of 0.49 in 23 games (2,011 minutes). That mark is currently second on IU's all-time list. . . This trip will be a homecoming of sorts for Nick Garcia. The Hermann Trophy finalist hails from the Dallas suburb of Plano.
Preseason Honors: 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. Three Indiana players -- Lazo Alavanja, Nick Garcia and Dema Kovalenko -- head the 15 finalists for the 1998 Hermann Trophy.
Next Up: The Hoosiers have three games next week. IU hosts Miami
(O.) Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. before playing at the Butler Classic
in Indianapolis. Indiana plays Central Florida next Friday (Sept. 18) at
6 p.m. and then Jacksonville Sunday (Sept. 20) at 12 p.m.
© Indiana University Athletics, 1998
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