Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Upend No. 5 Saint Louis (10-24-03)
10/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Bloomington, Ind. -- The Indiana men's soccer team picked up its biggest victory of the season to date, topping No. 5 Saint Louis, 2-1, in front of 2,919 fans at Armstrong Stadium. Hoosier junior Ned Grabavoy stole the spot light during the marquee matchup with a television audience, scoring both IU goals. The 24th-ranked Hoosiers won their sixth straight match and stayed unbeaten in their last eight matches. Indiana now sits at 8-3-4 on the season, while Saint Louis fell to 9-3-2.
"The match was a thriller, just like we thought it would be," Indiana head coach Jerry Yeagley said. "It was a back and forth battle between two great teams. This is a really big win for us."
The second half was nip and tuck throughout and the intensity gradually built , especially after Ryan Wileman's goal for the Billikens tied the game up at the 67:26 mark. Off an IU foul, John DiRaimondo passed the ball forward to Wileman, who flicked the ball into the right side of the goal just past junior goalkeeper Jay Nolly.
"Give Saint Louis credit," Yeagley said. "IU owned them in the first half, but they came out and had the better of us for the first 25 minutes of the second half. I was worried that our youth might show, but we woke up after they scored."
The teams traded scoring opportunites for the next 20 minutes. Indiana redshirt freshman Josh Tudela had two of the biggest scoring chances. He attempted two hard shots from just outside the 18-yard box. A Saint Louis defender deflected the first offering just wide, while the Billiken goalkeeper Martin Hutton stopped the second on a nice diving save.
Nolly did his part to keep the Hoosiers in contention. The Littleton, Colo., native blocked two Vedad Ibisevic headers wide in the span of two minutes. The junior made three saves on the day for Indiana, while Hutton finished with four for SLU.
With just under five minutes left in the second half, Grabavoy provided a fitting end to a superb night. Senior Vijay Dias crossed the ball to sophomore Brian Plotkin, who flicked the ball up into the six-yard box to Grabavoy. The New Lenox, Ill., native shot the ball into the left side of the net just past a sprawled out Hutton, to give the Hoosiers the final 2-1 margin. The two-goal game was Grabavoy's third of the season and fourth in his career.
The goals were numbers nine and 10 for the 2002 All-American and brought his season point total to 26. The assist was Plotkin's fifth on the year and Dias' first of the 2003 campaign.
Indiana out shot Saint Louis 12-6 on the night. Grabavoy led the Hoosiers with four shots, while Plotkin had three and Tudela had two. The Billikens took five corners in the second half and finished the game with a 6-4 margin over the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers struck first with a goal at the 29:27 mark. After numerous high percentage opportunities, Grabavoy scored his first goal of the match on a sliding shot from the left side of the six-yard box. Sophomore Jordan Chirico assisted on the goal as he fed the ball right past the SLU keeper to give Grabavoy an open shot. The assist was Chirico's first of the year.
The match was televised by College Sports TV and will be broadcast nationally on Monday, Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m. (ET). CSTV can be seen on satellite (DirecTV Channel 610) and cable.
The Hoosiers will return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 29, when they travel to Louisville for a battle with the Cardinals. The game is schedule for 7 p.m at Cardinal Park. Louisville is 10-5-1 on the season and leads Conference-USA with a 5-2-1 mark.
