Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Headed to California (10-23-02)
10/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 23, 2002
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Fresh off a seventh straight Big Ten Conference title and a return to the No. 1 ranking in the polls, Indiana (12-1-2, 6-0-0 Big Ten) heads West for a pair of games against teams from the Golden State. IU will face Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Oct. 25, at 9 p.m. and then played a ranked opponent for the sixth time this season on Sunday, Oct. 27, when it battles No. 17 UC Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. Indiana is riding a 11-game win streak with its last and only loss of the season coming on Sept. 7 at St. John's.
Senior All-American Pat Noonan, this week's Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, tallied a goal and an assist on Sunday at Ohio State and brought his season total to 27 points on a team-best 10 goals and seven assists.
IU's other senior All-American Ryan Mack ranks second on the squad with 20 points on six goals and a team-leading eight assists. Mack was selected College Soccer News' National Player of the Week. Sophomore Ned Grabavoy is third with 19 points on six goals and seven assists. Grabavoy's eight-game scoring streak was snapped last Wednesday at Kentucky, but the midifielder scored IU's first goal at OSU Sunday.
The Indiana defense has recorded seven shutouts this season and ranks 11th in the country in goals against average (0.70). IU will be missing a key component for the second straight week. Starting defensive midfielder Danny O'Rourke suffered an injury in pregame warmups on Oct. 13. O'Rourke collided with a teammate and fractured four bones in his face. O'Rourke underwent surgery last Wednesday afternoon. At this point, he is sidelined indefinitely, but could return in time for the Big Ten Tournament, Nov. 14-17 at Penn State.
About Cal State Fullerton
The Titans own a 5-6-2 overall record on the season and are coming off a scoreless tie with UC Irvine Tuesday night. Junior forward Hector Orellana is Fullerton's leading scoring threat, having posted 20 points (8 goals, 4 assists) on the season. Freshman forward Eugene Brooks is second on the squad with four goals and an assist (9 points). Sophomore Sam Reynolds is the Titans' starting goalkeeper. He has made 49 saves and has a 1.74 goals-against average.
The all-time series between the Hoosiers and the Titans is locked at one win apiece. Both meetings took place in 1994. During the regular season, Fullerton edged the Hoosiers in overtime, 3-2, on Oct. 28. Indiana exacted revenge on Dec. 4 with a trip to the College Cup on the line as it prevailed, 2-1.
Al Mistri is in his 22nd season at the head coach at Cal State Fullerton.
About UC Santa Barbara
The 17th-ranked Gauchos (10-1-1) are enjoying their best season in school history. UCSB started the season by winning eight straight games before suffering their only loss of the season to date at top 10 team Loyola Marymount on Oct. 6. Last week the Gauchos picked a 5-0 shutout of UC Riverside and posted a scoreless tie with Cal State Northridge last Sunday.
Senior forward Rob Friend paces UCSB's offensive attack, which boasts the nation's second-ranked offense (3.25 goals per game), with 28 points on 12 goals and four assists. Sophomore foward Drew McAthly is second with 10 goals and an assist. Danny Kennedy handles goalkeeping duties and owns a 1.00 GAA to go with 42 saves.
Sunday's match represents the first-ever meeting between Indiana and Cal Santa Barbara. The Gauchos are coached by Tim Vom Steeg, who is in his fourth season at the helm.
Hoosiers Sweep Big Ten Weekly Awards--Again
For the second straight week, both the Big Ten Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week are Indiana Hoosiers the Big Ten office announced Monday. Senior forward Pat Noonan earned offensive honors for the third time this season and the sixth time in his career while senior back John Swann received the defensive award for the second time this season. Noonan and Swann are twoof seven IU seniors who did not suffer a conference regular season loss in their careers.
Noonan paced Indiana's offensive attack in a pair of road wins at Kentucky and Ohio State. Against the Wildcats, the two-time All-American accounted for both IU goals, including the game-winner. After the Wildcats scored to tie it up with five minutes remaining, Noonan struck right back, tallying the decisive goal 30 seconds later. At Ohio State, the Hoosier co-captain provided both a goal and an assist as Indiana clinched its seventh straight Big Ten regular season title at Ohio State. Noonan has scored a team-best 27 points (10 goals, 7 assists) this season.
Swann continued his stellar defensive play last week in IU's two wins and scored the game-winning header on Sunday against Ohio State. The goal was the IU co-captain's third of the season and 10 in his career. Swann, a native of Brownsburg, Ind., was also the conference defensive player of the week on Sept. 2, 2002. Ned Grabavoy and David Prall were named offensive and defensive player of the week, respectively, last week.
Mack Named National Player of the Week
Ryan Mack, a fifth-year senior, was selected by College Soccer News as the National Player of the Week for his continued good play last week. The publication is honoring Mack for the second time this season as he was named to CSN's National of the Week on Sept. 16. The two-time All-American scored his sixth goal of the season in Indiana's win over the Buckeyes and assisted on another against Kentucky. Mack hit the 20-point mark for the season last week and leads the Hoosiers with eight assists.
Big Ten Streak
After finishing the Big Ten season undefeated again, the Hoosiers hold a 36-game regular season win streak in conference play. IU also owns a 39-game unbeaten streak. The victory streak started on Oct. 18, 1996, with a triumph over Wisconsin. The last time Indiana dropped a regular season conference match to a Big Ten opponent was on Oct. 13, 1995, at Wisconsin. On Oct. 4, 1996, the Hoosiers tied Penn State, 1-1.
Star-Spangled Sophomore
Sophomore midifelder Ned Grabavoy is one of 18 players that has been called to National Team Duty to compete for United States U-20 Nov. 13, 15 and 17 in Charleston, S.C., at Blackbaud Stadium. The U.S. team will attempt to qualify for the World Youth Championships.
The United States will be joined by Haiti, El Salvador, and Canada in the Group "B" qualifier played in South Carolina. The top two teams will advance to the FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates from March 25 to April 16, 2003.
Due to conflicting dates, Grabavoy will be forced to miss Indiana's games in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. By way of their regular season league championship, the Hoosiers will have a first-round bye in the tournament and will open play on Friday, Nov. 15 in State College, Pa., at Penn State University. The tournament title game will be played on Sunday, Nov. 17.
During the month of August, both Grabavoy and fellow Hoosier sophomore Mike Ambersley spent 10 days in Valencia, Spain, competing for the United States in an Under-20 international tournament After playing in Spain on Aug. 29, the tandem traveled some 20 hours back to the United States and arrive near the start of Hoosiers' season opener against Rutgers on Aug. 30. Both saw action in the match.
All-American Connection
On nine occassions this season, senior All-Americans Noonan and Ryan Mack have hooked up for a Hoosier goal. Noonan has assisted on four of Mack's goals and Mack has assisted on five of Noonan's goals.
In the National Rankings
Indiana appears in three sets of the Oct. 20 national statistical rankings:
• Jay Nolly is ranked No. 13 with an 072 goals-against average.
• Ned Grabavoy's four assists at Michigan State on Sept. 22 put him tied for first in single-game assists.
• With its 12-1-2 record, Indiana is tied for fifth in the country in won-loss percentage (0.847).
NOTES AND TIDBITS
• Indiana's win-loss percentage (12-1-2, 0.867) is tied for fifth, while UC Santa Barbara's (10-1-1) ranks tied for third.
• Sunday's matchup between UC Santa Barbara and Indiana will feature the country's No. 2 scoring team and No. 11 defense, respectively.
• Pat Noonan, Ryan Mack, Vijay Dias, David Prall and Jay Nolly are the only players to start all 15 games for Indiana.
• Noonan and Mack rank in the top 10 all-time at Indiana in several offensive categories. Noonan is third in shots (298), eighth in points (117), and tied for ninth in goals (44). Mack is ninth in shots (232), and for ninth in assists (34).
• Indiana's all-time record in Big Ten Conference play is 57-4-2.
•With his career win total now at 524 in 30 seasons, head coach Jerry Yeagley needs 21 more wins to become collegiate soccer's all-time winningest coach. Stephen Nogoesco, who is retired, holds the distinction currently with 544 wins in 39 seasons.
• Sophomore Noah Gold, redshirt freshman Chris Pomeroy, redshirt freshman Heath Creager and sophomore Eric Goldstein all saw their first action in a Hoosier uniform against Wisconsin on Oct. 11.
• The Hoosiers are undefeated at home this season. In fact, IU's last loss at Armstrong Stadium came on Oct. 17, 2001, when Notre Dame defeated Indiana, 1-0. IU has a 9-0-3 record since that time, including a 4-0-2 mark this season.
• Indiana has had five different players earn eight weekly honors from the Big Ten Conference. That's the most of any league school.
