Hoosiers Headed To Penn State (09-25-02)

9/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Sept. 25, 2002

Bloomington, Ind. - Fifth-ranked Indiana continues its five-game road swing with its second conference game of the season at Penn State on Friday, Sept. 27. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. (CST) at Jeffrey Field in University Park, Pa. IU is 5-1-2 on the season and 1-0-0 in Big Ten play. In addition, the Hoosiers also own a 31-game win streak in regular season Big Ten contests.

Friday's tilt could be considered the Hoosiers' biggest to date as Penn State is the most highly-ranked Big Ten team outside of Indiana. Seemingly, the winner of the contest would be in the driver's seat early on for the top seed in the conference tournament. A victory would put the Hoosiers at 2-0 with a pair of Big Ten impressive wins on the road wins

Senior All-Americans Ryan Mack and Pat Noonan are leading the Hoosier offensive charge with a team-best 14 points apiece. Sophomore Ned Grabavoy has exploded as of late and is next with six points on six assists. He collected four of those in the contest at Michigan State on Sunday to tie an Indiana single-game record.

Among Big Ten teams, Indiana ranks first in goals allowed per game with an 0.75 average. The Hoosiers gave up five goals in their first four games, but have held their opponents to just one score in the last four games.

The Hoosiers lead the all-time series with the Nittany Lions, 20-5-2, but actually trails, 3-4-2, in University Park. Indiana has the last nine meetings with Penn State, Last season, a 3-1 triumph on Sept. 28, 2001, in Bloomington.

About Penn State

Penn State comes into to Friday's matchup with a 5-3-0 record overall and a 1-0 mark in Big Ten play after last Sunday's 1-0 victory over Michigan. The Nittany Lions are ranked in a tie for 12th in this week's adidas/ NSCAA Poll and No. 25 in the College Soccer News Poll. PSU is the top-ranked team in the Middle Atlantic Region.

In addition to win over Michigan, the Nittany Lions have recently defeated Akron, 2-1, on Sept. 20 and lost to American, 2-1, on Sept. 15.

Penn State's top scoring threat is sophomore Chad Severs, who shared the 2001 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award with Hoosier sophomore Mike Ambersley. Severs has scored 16 points (7 goals, 2 assists), the most of any player in the league. Sophomores Pasi Karpinnen and Joe Zewe are next with eight and seven points, respectively.

The Hoosiers own a 20-5-2 advantage in the all-time series with Penn State, but trail in games played in University Park, 3-4-2.

The Nittany Lions' head coach is Barry Gorman. Gorman is in his 14th seson at PSU.

Poll Position

The Hoosiers have climbed back into the top five in all four polls this week. IU ranks No. 5 in the adidas/ NSCAA poll. The Hoosiers are fourth in both the Soccer America and Soccer Times polls and No. 3 in the College Soccer News rankings. IU began the season as a consensus No. 1 but slipped as low as No. 9 after a pair of ties and a loss at St. John's in its first four games. Indiana is the top-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region.

Eclipsing The Century Mark
Already a two-time All-American and one of the finest soccer players in IU history, senior Pat Noonan added another impressive achievement to his list credentials on Sunday. Noonan became the 14th player in Indiana history to score 100 points in his career. With 104 points, the Hoosier co-captain ranks 12th on the all-time scoring list.

Noonan Named National Player of the Week

After a career game at Michigan State on Sunday, Indiana men's soccer senior Pat Noonan was named College Soccer News' National Player of the Week. In addition, he was the Big Ten's Offensive Player of Week for the second straight time. Noonan became the 14th player in Indiana's illustrious soccer history to post 100 points in a career as the Hoosiers rolled past the 22nd-ranked Spartans, 6-1, in East Lansing, Mich.

Noonan totaled six points in the game on two goals and two assists to set a new career high. With 104 career points, he now ranks 12th in the IU record books. He is currently tied with fellow senior All-American Ryan Mack for the team lead with 14 points.

Big Ten Streak

The Hoosiers hold a 31-game regular season win streak. IU also owns a 35-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.

Grabavoy Getting In On the Action
Sophomore Ned Grabavoy has burst into the scoring column in the last week for Indiana. Grabavoy matched an IU single-game record with four assists this past Sunday at Michigan State. He shares the mark with Todd Yeagley and Angelo DiBernardo. Grabavoy's six points on the season rank third on the team. The New Lenox, Ill., product was the National Player of the Year coming out of high school, but was injured during preseason a year ago. He was forced to the sidelines for the first half of the 2001 season.

The Defense Never Rests

Coming into the 2002 season, it seemed the Indiana defense would need time to solidify itself. After all, the Hoosiers lost three starters (backs Ryan Hammer and Josh Rife and goalkeeper Colin Rogers) to graduation in 2001. Last season's defensive unit led the nation in goals against average and shutout percentage.

Behind the leadership of senior co-captain John Swann and senior Phil Presser, who made the move to play the sweeper position after starting for two seasons in the midfield, Indiana has four shutouts in eight games. After missing last season due to an injury junior David Prall has moved into the lineup as a starter as well.

Sophomore Danny O'Rourke is picking up right where he left off last season in the defensive midfield spot. After allowing just one goal in the last four games, sophomore Jay Nolly is coming into his own in his first season as starter. Indiana currently ranks first among Big Ten Conference teams with an 0.75 goals against average.

Career Firsts

Two IU players embarked on career firsts Sunday at Michigan State. Sophomore defender Michael Bowditch scored his first career goal. In the ophomore Ned Grabavoy took the corner kick, senior Michael Bock got his head on it before Bowdtich put it away for the first goal of his IU career. Junior David Prall recorded his first assist on the Hoosiers' final goal with a beautiful pass to Ryan Mack.

CORNER KICKS
 Senior goalkeeper Matt Reiswerg saw his first action of the season last Sunday. The Carmel, Ind., product played the final 13:22 in goal at Michigan State.

 Senior Ryan Mack's nine shots at Michigan State rank second on the single-game shots list in conference play.

 Indiana's all-time record in Big Ten Conference play is 52-4-2.

Junior midfielder Vijay Dias scored his first goal of the season against the Spartans on Sunday. The last goal for Dias came in the 2001 College Cup seminfinals versus St. John's.

 IU's initial goal on Sunday at MSU marked the first goal Spartan keeper Tyler Robinson had given up to an opposing team all season.

 The Hoosiers have out-shot their opponents, 118-61, to this point in the season. IU also has 53 shots on goal to its opponents' 21.

 Pat Noonan, Ryan Mack, John Swann, Vijay Dias, David Prall, Phil Presser, Danny O'Rourke and Jay Nolly have started all eight games for Indiana.

 Indiana ranks first among Big Ten teams with a 0.75 goals allowed average in eight games.

Preseason All-Americans
A trio of Hoosier seniors have been named to College Soccer News' preseason All-America teams. Forward Pat Noonan and midfielder Ryan Mack are members of the first team while defender John Swann is a second-team selection. The publication released three teams comprised of 11 players each. IU is the only team with two first-team representatives and also has the most selections overall with three. In addition, Noonan was selected to Soccer America's 11-player preseason All-America team.

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.

All-Tournament Honors
Indiana has played in three Classics this season, the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic and the St. John's Classic, and the Butler University SoccerFest and the Hoosiers have been well-represented on all-tournament teams.

In the adidas/IU Classic senior defenders John Swann and Phil Presser were named to the all-tournament team and Swann was also selected the Most Valuable Defensive Player.

At St. John's, sophomore defensive midfielder Danny O'Rourke and seniors Pat Noonan and Ryan Mack garnered all-tournament honors.

At the Butler SoccerFest, Mack, Noonan, Presser and Swann were selected all-tournament. Noonan was tapped the Offensive MVP, while sophomore keeper Jay Nolly earned Defensive MVP honors.

Breaking All Ties

In its 30-year history, the Indiana soccer team had never started its season with consecutive tie games until 2002. In fact, on only two occasions have the Hoosiers ever tied in back-to-back games. In 1986, IU finished in a 1-1 tie with American University on Oct. 26 and then followed with a second 1-1 tie against Evansville. The Hoosiers also had a pair of draws in the 1992 season against San Francisco, 1-1, on Oct. 30, and Florida International, 0-0, on Nov. 1.

Welcome, Freshmen

Three freshmen are making an impact in the early going for Indiana. Redshirt freshman Pat Yates has played in eight games, making six starts. The Ft. Wayne, Ind., product also scored the first goal of his Hoosier career against William and Mary in the St. John's Classic on Sept. 6.

True freshmen Jordan Chirico and Brian Plotkin have seen action in seven games this season and provided valuable minutes. Plotkin, who has made three starts, scored his first points as a Hoosier against Louisville on Sept. 10 when he assisted on Pat Noonan's goal. Chirico has one start to his credit.