Indiana University Athletics
IPFWShowcase Preview (8-17-04)
8/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Bloomington, Ind. - The Indiana men's soccer team will open up the exhibition part of the 2004 season at the IPFW Soccer Showcase. The Hoosiers are slated to play St. John's on Friday, Aug. 20, at 8:00 p.m. in a rematch of the 2003 national championship match. Indiana will then battle the host IPFW on Saturday, Aug. 21, at 8:00 p.m. The event will be held at Hefner Soccer Fields in Fort Wayne.
"The Soccer Showcase exhibition has become a part of our schedule that is important," Indiana head coach Mike Freitag said. "Terry Stefankiewicz, the head coach at IPFW, has done a great job of developing and making this showcase happen. It is good for us to go play teams the caliber of St. John's to start the season. We find out what we are all about because we always expect good competition up there. We get to play IPFW this year. Terry has built a squad that gets better and better each year. Fort Wayne is a soccer town in Indiana and maybe the best one in the sense that there are so many kids and people who are educated about the sport."
Stefankiewicz is no stranger to Indiana Soccer. He played for legendary Hoosier head coach Jerry Yeagley when the program was still a club team. Stefankiewicz has been at IPFW for 22 years, compiling a record of 178-165-19. Freitag enters his first season at the helm for the Hoosiers. After serving as an assistant coach of the IU program for 11 years, Freitag was named as the replacement to Yeagley after he retired following the 2003 season.
The Hoosiers will open the Showcase in the featured game on Friday night against College Soccer News' Preseason No. 2 St. John's. The Hoosiers and Red Storm hooked up for the NCAA title in 2003. IU knocked off the Red Storm, 2-1. The Hoosiers enter the 2004 season as CSN's Preseason No. 1. Indiana will also played the featured game on Saturday night against IPFW.
"I think we are both in a similar situations in that we don't have very much time to prepare for this game," Freitag said of the match up with St. John's. "The teams just got back together, but it will be nice to play a quality team to start off. It will help give us an early indication of our team. It is always fun to play good team. "
Indiana will be playing in the showcase for the fifth straight season. In 2000, Indiana knocked off IPFW, 4-0 and Rutgers, 2-0. IU picked up a pair of ties at the exhibition in 2001 against South Carolina (0-0) and UAB (3-3). In 2002, the Hoosiers and Kentucky Wildcats played to a 1-1 tie, and Indiana downed Virginia 3-2. Last season, the Hoosiers fell to Kentucky, 2-1 before tying Rutgers, 1-1.
The Hoosiers have a pair of players from the Fort Wayne area in junior midfielder Pat Yates and redshirt freshman back Kyle Schwartz. Yates was a graduate of Snider High School, while Schwartz graduated from Canterbury High School.
IU returns nine starters and 16 letterwinners from the 2003 National Championship squad. The Hoosiers also return a pair of players in senior midfielder Danny O'Rourke and junior back Drew Moor, who were named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List this preseason. Indiana was one of four schools to have two named to the list of 25.
The Hoosiers also have a pair of preseason All-Americans from College Soccer News. O'Rourke was a first team selection, while junior Brian Plotkin was a third team choice.
IPFW Soccer Showcase Schedule
Friday, August 20
6:00 p.m.
Field 1 - Miami (Ohio) vs. IPFW (Women)
Field 2 - Michigan State vs. Kentucky (Men)
8:00 p.m.
Field 1 - St. John's vs. Indiana (Men)
Field 2 - Indiana vs. Kentucky (Women)
Saturday, August 21
6:00 p.m.
Field 1 - DePaul vs. Purdue (Women)
8:00 p.m.
Field 1 - Indiana vs. IPFW (Men)
Field 2 - Kentucky vs. Northwestern (Women)
Sunday, August 22
11:00 a.m.
Field 1 - Kentucky vs. St. John's (Men)
Field 2 - IUPUI vs. Michigan State (Men)
Players Mentioned
