Indiana University Athletics
Indiana To Host Classic (08-29-02)
8/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug 29, 2002
Hoosiers To Open Season in adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
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2/FONT>senior Ryan Mack |
The top-ranked Indiana men’s soccer team will open the 2002 season this weekend as it hosts the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the IU campus. The event will match some of the nation’s premier soccer teams as No. 8 Rutgers, ninth-ranked Clemson and Butler visit Bloomington. Clemson and Butler open the weekend at 5 p.m. on Friday while the hometown Hoosiers and Rutgers will play in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. Action continues at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday as Rutgers and Butler face off. Indiana will battle Clemson at 8 p.m.
Admission prices are $4 for adults and $2 for children and can be purchased at the gate. IU students are admitted free with a student ID card.
Hoosier Preview
Indiana enters the season as the nation’s top-ranked team after an NCAA runner-up finish in 2001. Seventeen letterwinners and six starters are back for head coach Jerry Yeagley.
Senior national player-of-the-year candidates Pat Noonan and Ryan Mack headline this season’s Indiana squad. Noonan led the Hoosiers with 16 goals and 12 assists on his way to Big Ten Player of the Year and NSCAA first-team All-America honors a season ago. Mack, who was forced to redshirt the 2001 season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, was named Big Ten Player of the Year and third-team All-America in 2000. Mack returns for his senior season in 2002.
Senior co-captain John Swann (along with Noonan) and senior Phil Presser will anchor Indiana’s defense. Swann and Presser, who will initially play the sweeper position, were starters and first-team All-Big Ten selections a year ago.
Sophomores Mike Ambersley and Danny O’Rourke round out IU’s core of returning starters. Ambersley, a forward, earned Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year honors in 2001 and was the Hoosiers’ second leading scorer. O’Rourke played in the defensive midfield and was named to Soccer America’s All-Freshman Team.
Sophomore Jay Nolly takes over in goal for the Hoosiers this season. Nolly played 132:26 in 2001.
Scouting A Familiar Field
Indiana met all three teams in this season’s Classic during the 2001 season. The Hoosiers took on Butler during the regular season and played both Rutgers and Clemson in the NCAA Tournament.
About Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 15-7-3 record in 2001 and a trip to the NCAA Tournament that ended at the hands of Indiana. Rutgers and IU played in third round of the tournament and the Hoosiers came away with a 3-0 win in Bloomington on Dec. 2. RU returns 17 letterwinners and eight starters in 2002, including second-team All-American and U-23 National Team member Guy Abrahamson.
Rutgers is ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA Preseason Poll, No. 9 by Soccer America and No. 11 in the College Soccer News poll.
The Scarlet Knights are coached by Bob Reass who is entering his 21st season at Rutgers. He owns a 300-127-53 record overall and a 286-117-48 mark at Rutgers.
RU also played in the IU/adidas Classic in 1993 and 1997.
About Clemson
The Tigers compiled a 19-5 record last season, finished second in the ACC regular season race and won the conference tournament. Indiana and Clemson met in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2001 with a trip to the College Cup on the line. The Hoosiers defeated the Tigers, 2-0, on Dec. 9 in Bloomington. Clemson returns 16 letterwinners and seven starters. Dimelon Westfield was the Tigers’ leading scorer in 2001, totaling nine goals and five assists for 23 points.
Head coach Trevor Adair is beginning his eighth season at Clemson. Adair’s record at Clemson is 101-39-10 and 135-63-15 in 11 seasons overall.
The Tigers have appeared in the Classic on three other occasions, in 1984, 1985 and in 1997. They won the title in 1985.
The Classic
This season’s adidas/IU Credit Union Classic marks the 20 straight year the event has been held at Indiana. Year in and year out, some of the country’s best collegiate men’s soccer teams visit Bloomington and Bill Armstrong Stadium. Last season’s field featured a pair of eventual College Cup teams in IU and St. John’s and Kentucky and Butler also advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Once again this season, all four of the teams competing in this year’s Classic played in the NCAA Tournament in 2001. Clemson is making its fourth appearance and Rutgers will play in the event for the third time. Butler is playing in the Classic for the fourth-straight season.
Indiana and the Classic
Of the 19 years the adidas Classic has been played, IU has come away with the title eight times. The longest the Hoosiers have gone without claiming the championship is three straight seasons on three occasions, one of which the team is in the midst of right now. IU lost to St. John’s a season ago, a team that it would eventually defeat in the College Cup. In 2000, the Hoosiers fell to both Portland and UCLA, and in 1999, Indiana dropped its second game to Saint Louis. Indiana will be looking to break its drought of Classic championships this weekend.
Pair of Player of the Year Candidates
Most teams count themselves lucky to have one National Player-of-the-Year candidate on the roster. Indiana has two in seniors Pat Noonan and Ryan Mack. Noonan, a forward, led the Hoosiers with 16 goals and 12 assists on his way to Big Ten Player of the Year and NSCAA first-team All-America honors a season ago. The Ballwin, Mo. product was also a second-team All-American in 2000. Mack, who was forced to redshirt the 2001 season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, was named Big Ten Player of the Year and third-team All-America in 2000. Mack, who hails from Beverly Hills, Mich., returns for his senior season in 2002.
In Exhibition Play...
Kentucky-- Indiana forged a 1-1 tie with the University of Kentucky last Friday night. The Hoosiers gave up an early goal but pulled even on junior Vijay Dias’ goal in the 72nd minute. Since the game was an exhibition contest, no overtime was played.
In the seventh minute, No. 20 Kentucky converted its first corner kick of the game to take the lead. Olli Lehtimaki headed the ball into the net off Nathan Fleetwood’s set-up.
After getting off to a slow start, the Hoosiers settled in and began to better control the field in the latter part of the first half. IU out-shot Kentucky, 7-4 in the opening half. Indiana extended its offensive firepower in the second half, adding 12 more shots, including six of them on goal. Indiana finally finished one at the 71:49 mark. Senior forward Pat Noonan, who had put on a creative offensive showcase finallymanaged a breakaway and dumped the ball to Dias for the score.
Sophomore keeper Jay Nolly, in his first start for IU, made an important diving save in the 84th minute to keep the score locked at one. Noonan (6) and Dias (5) led the Hoosiers in shots.
Indiana also got solid defensive play from Ft. Wayne native, senior Phil Presser and senior. Presser made his debut at the sweeper position for IU.
Virginia -- Behind three goals by senior All-American Pat Noonan, Indiana defeated Virginia, 3-2, at the IPFW Soccer Showcase, in front of a crowd of 2,400. The exhibition match-up concludes the Hoosiers’ preseason schedule.
Indiana came out strong in the first half creating chances on the offensive end of the field. In the 24th minute, IU got on the scoreboard when senior All-American Ryan Mack crossed the ball to Noonan. Noonan booted it right to left and buried the ball in the far bottom corner of the net to give Indiana a 1-0 lead.
To open the second half, Virginia would respond with a pair of goals in the span of a minute. Kirk Dinnal tied it at one goal apiece in the 51st minute. UVA took the lead with a second score 32 seconds later. Alecko Eskandarian created an opening and knocked the ball in from 10 yards out.
Indiana was forced to play from behind, but the veteran Noonan stepped up in a big way. In the 73rd minute, the Hoosiers found the net again as Presser led Noonan downfield with a pass. Noonan scored from 10 yards out to even it at two.
But the Hoosiers were not finished. Noonan struck again in the 74th minute, with freshman Jordan Chirico providing the assist on the goal to complete the hat trick.
Soccer to Name Consensus Player of the Year
Up until this year, two national player of the year awards have been handed out each season in collegiate soccer. The Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy have made the decision to merge into one consensus honor. Indiana has had five players win the Hermann Trophy and three named Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year.
Star-Spangled Sophomores
Sophomores Mike Ambersley and Ned Grabavoy are currently in Valencia, Spain, competing for the United States in an Under 20s international tournament. The U.S. has compiled a 3-1 record with wins over Italy, the Ukraine and Uruguay and its only loss to Brazil in the tournament. The U.S. has earned a rematch with Brazil in the finals of the event on Thursday, Aug. 29. Ambersley and Grabavoy departed on Aug. 19 and should return to Bloomington on Aug. 30. Whether they will be able to play in Friday’s game is still up in the air, but both should be available for Saturday’s tilt.
Injury Report
Senior Marcus Chorvat broke the tibia bone in his right leg in Indiana’s exhibition opener against Kentucky last Friday night. Late in the first half, Chorvat collided with the UK goalkeeper and suffered the injury. The Clinton Township, Mich., native will be sidelined for four to six weeks.
Head Coach Jerry Yeagley
The numbers speak for themselves. Yeagley has led the Hoosiers to five NCAA titles, the second most in NCAA history and 15 trips to the College Cup, including 11 championship game appearances. The 15 College Cups are the second most ever. In fact, every player who has played at Indiana for four years has competed in at least one College Cup, a claim that no other program can make. No team has won more NCAA Championships or appeared in more College Cups than Indiana, since soccer earned varsity status on the Bloomington campus.
He has also led Indiana to nine Big Ten Championships in 11 years. His overall career record stands at 512-94-38 (.825) and he has posted a winning record in all 29 of his seasons in Bloomington. His Hoosiers are currently tied with UCLA and Clemson for the longest active winning season streak.
Yeagley enters this year with over 100 more wins than any other active head coach. His winning percentage is tops among current head coaches. He has won more games since soccer became a varsity sport at Indiana than any other coach in the country.
He is just the second coach in NCAA history to post 500 career wins and ranks second to only Stephen Negoesco who retired from San Francisco at the conclusion of the 2000 season. Negesco recorded 544 victories in 39 seasons. Yeagley has averaged nearly 18 wins per season and at that pace would need just over one more season to become college soccer’s all-time leader in head coaching victories in just 31 seasons.
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