Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Close Out Four-Game Road Trip with Conference Affairs
10/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 12, 2005
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The two-time defending national champion Indiana men's soccer team concludes its four-game road trip with a pair of Big Ten affairs. The No. 8 Hoosiers (7-1-3, 1-1-1 in the Big Ten) will face Wisconsin (4-8-0, 0-2 in the Big Ten) in Madison, Wis., on Friday, Oct. 14. The game is slated for 8 p.m. EDT. The final match of the road trip comes in Evanston, Ill., against Northwestern. IU will battle the Wildcats on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 3 p.m.
Hoosier News and Notes
- Indiana is ranked No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
- Indiana is averaging 3,439 fans per match at Armstrong Stadium. The Hoosiers have drawn 17,197 total fans in three home matches this season.
- Junior forward Jacob Peterson currently ranks among the Hoosier top 25 in two career categories. He is tied for 23rd on the career goals list with 23 during his three-year career. Peterson needs two goals to move into a tie for 21st. He also is 22nd with 159 career shots. The Portage, Mich., native needs three more attempts to move into 21st.
- Senior midfielder Brian Plotkin ranks among the IU all-time top 25 in two categories as well. He is tied for 13th in assists with 29 career helpers. With three more assists, he will move into a tie for 11th place with current MLS star Pat Noonan and Pat McGauley. Plotkin ranks 10th on IU's career shots list with 235, trailing ninth place Ryan Mack by 10.
- Senior Mike Ambersley ranks among IU's top 25 in career shots. He is tied for 24th with 138 career attempts with Chad Deering. He trails Rodrigo Castro, who is 22nd, by seven shots.
- Peterson recorded his second career hat trick and 48th in the Hoosier annals. Against Boston University on Sept. 11, he notched the first three goals of the match in a 5-0 victory. Peterson became the 10th Hoosier in school history to record multiple hat tricks in a career.
- Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Munroe ranks eighth nationally in goals against average (GAA) as of Oct. 9. He has a GAA of 0.45, following his sixth shutout of the season against Michigan. Munroe had a career-best seven saves in a victory over Cal State-Northridge on Sept. 16.
- As a team (as of Oct. 9), Indiana leads the nation in shutout percentage, blanking eight of 11 opponents. The Hoosier defense also ranks third in goals against average at 0.43. IU ranks ninth nationally in goals per game with 2.55 per contest.
Scouting Wisconsin
The Badgers enter the contest with the Hoosiers riding a six-match losing streak. Wisconsin is 4-8 on the season and 0-2 in conference action. All but one of the eight Badger defeats has come by one goal.
Last week, Wisconsin dropped a pair of road matches, falling at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2-0) and at Penn State in overtime, 1-0. Wisconsin owns victories over UNLV, Drake, Oakland and Butler.
Wisconsin is led in scoring by junior midfielder Aaron Hohlbein, who has six points on two goals and two assists. Junior forward Reid Johnson, sophomore midfielder Dirk Pearson and sophomore midfielder Sho Fujita each have two goals for the Badgers as well. Junior Jake Settle has started 11 matches in goal for Wisconsin. He has a goals against average of 1.27 with 46 saves and one shutout.
The Hoosiers are 28-3-3 all-time against Wisconsin, including a 10-1-2 mark in Madison. IU has won the last 11 meetings between the two schools. Last season, Indiana defeated the Badgers, 1-0, in Bloomington on a goal by John Michael Hayden.
Scouting Northwestern
Northwestern is 6-4 on the year entering its midweek match up with Loyola (Ill.) on Wednesday. The Wildcats are 1-2 in Big Ten play with a victory over Michigan State and losses to Michigan and Penn State. In their most recent match of the season on Oct. 7, the Wildcats lost, 4-1, at Penn State.
Along with the Big Ten foes, Indiana and Northwestern have one other common opponent in IUPUI. The Hoosiers defeated IUPUI, 5-0, in Bloomington, while the Wildcats topped the Jaguars, 2-1, at the Northern Illinois Invitational. Northwestern also owns victories over Western Kentucky, St. Francis (Pa.), Northern Illinois and Illinois-Chicago.
Junior forward Brad North leads the Wildcats with 10 points on five goals. Junior midfielder John Carlstedt is the only other Wildcat with multiple goals, having scored two on the season. Sophomore midfielder David Roth leads the team in assists with five.
Sophomore Will Briley has started the last four matches in goal for the Wildcats. He has a 2-2 record with two shutouts, 10 saves and a goals against average of 1.25. Freshman Misha Rosenthal started the other six matches in goal for Northwestern. He was 4-2 with two shutouts, 19 saves and a goals against average of 1.46.
The Hoosiers will look to avenge their only loss to Northwestern last season. The Wildcats knocked off then-No. 3 Indiana, 1-0, in Bloomington. All-time, IU is 20-1 against Northwestern.
Sweeping the Big Ten Hardware Again
For the second time in the 2005 season, Indiana swept the Big Ten Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards. Junior midfielder Josh Tudela was named the Offensive Player of the Week, while sophomore goalkeeper Chris Munroe earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor. The duo earned the accolades after helping the Hoosiers to a pair of road victories over Louisville, 2-0, and Michigan, 2-0.
Tudela and Munroe are the fourth and fifth Hoosiers to earn the Big Ten Players of the Week this season. It also is the first Big Ten honor of their careers.
Tudela scored three of the four Hoosier goals in the pair of wins. On Oct. 5 at Louisville, the Evansville, Ind., native scored both Hoosier goals. He headed in a corner kick in the 19th minute from freshman Lee Nguyen before bending a free kick around the wall to ice the match in the 82nd minute. Against Michigan with the Hoosiers leading, 1-0, he went far post from 18 yards off an assist from senior midfielder Jordan Chirico, clinching a 2-0 win.
With his two goals, Tudela moved into a tie with junior forward Jacob Peterson for the team lead with five tallies on the season. In fact, Tudela's five goals this season are the first regular season markers of his career. Coming into his junior campaign, Tudela had scored two career goals for IU both in the NCAA Tournament. He also ranks second on the team in points with 12.
Munroe notched his fifth and sixth shutouts of the season against U of L and U-M. The Indianapolis, Ind., native made four saves, all in the second half, to preserve the clean sheet against the Cardinals. In conference action against the Wolverines, Munroe made a pair of saves in recording the shutout. With IU clinging to a 1-0 advantage, he made a diving save to his left pushing out a bending shot from Michigan senior forward Trai Blanks.
The pair of shutouts lowered Munroe's Big Ten-leading goals against average of 0.45. That number ranks eighth nationally. He has also been the leader of a Hoosier defense that ranks first nationally in shutout percentage. IU has blanked eight of its 11 opponents this season.
Having Clean Sheets
The Hoosier defense has made itself one of the stingiest in the nation this season. Currently, IU leads the nation in shutout percent. Indiana has registered clean sheets against eight of 11 opponents in 2005. It also ranks third nationally in goals against average at 0.43.
The school record for shutouts in a season in 18 set by the 1979 squad. The Hoosiers current shutout percent of .727 is the second highest in school history also behind the 1979 squad. Here is a look at the top shutout standards in the program's 33-year history:
Place-Shutouts-Year-Shutout Percentage
1 - 18 (23 opponents) - 1979 -.783
2 - 17 (25 opponents) - 1998 -.680
2 - 17 (26 opponents) - 1980 -.654
4 - 16 (23 opponents) - 2001 -.696
4 - 16 (26 opponents) - 1994 -.615
4 - 16 (25 opponents) - 1982 -.640
Tudela Stepping up the scoring
Junior midfielder Josh Tudela entered the 2005 campaign, without a regular-season goal in his Hoosier career. In fact, eight of his 14 career points, including both his career goals, came during the NCAA Tournament runs each of the last two seasons. He played a vital role in the national title runs, but he would have been better described as a quiet contributor with a knack for being around the ball.
The dawn of a year new brings about a change in the numbers and the play. Following his three-goal outburst in the Hoosiers' last two matches against Louisville and Michigan, the Evansville, Ind., native ranks second on the team with 12 points on five goals and two assists. His five tallies also is tied for the team lead. From his central midfield position, Tudela has remained a key component in starting the Hoosier offense, but he has added the scoring flair as well.
Tudela notch his first goal of the season in just the Hoosiers' second match, a 4-0 victory over then-No. 7 SMU. He notched the game-winner heading in a corner kick against then-No. 25 Cal State-Northridge at the Oregon State Diadora Classic. The goal started a Hoosier onslaught of five second-half goals. Then against the Cardinals, he notched both Hoosier goals, including the game-winner in the 19th minute. He iced the Hoosiers' 2-0 win over Michigan with a goal in the 80th minute.
