Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Butler
Six-Goal Barrage Pushes IU Past Butler
10/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 19, 2005
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The two-time defending national champion Indiana men's soccer team showed off its offensive might in a 6-0 drubbing of the Butler Bulldogs on Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium. The Hoosiers posted a pair of goals in the opening stanza and tallied four more in a spirited second half. IU notched season bests in goals (6), assists (9) and points (21) against the Bulldogs. The win improves IU's record to 9-1-4 while Butler falls to 9-6-0 on the season.
"We came out slow," Indiana head coach Mike Freitag said. "I wasn't happy with the way we were playing for the first 30 minutes of the match. Finally, over the last 60 minutes, I saw the Hoosier fight that we have been looking for. It started clicking for the boys, and we need to maintain this attitude for the rest of the season."
The Hoosiers' six-goal outburst marked the fifth game this season with five or more tallies. That feat equals the total of the 1997 squad. The last time Indiana had more than five games with five or more goals during the regular season was 1987 when the Hoosiers finished with six. Indiana last scored six goals in a contest on September 22, 2002 at Michigan State (6-1).
The opening tally came in the 32nd minute when junior midfielder Josh Tudela sent a long cross from the left side along the touchline to senior Mike Ambersley. The Ballwin, Mo., native flicked a header back to the left from 10 yards out, where senior midfielder Brian Plotkin caught the dish on the volley for the marker. The goal was the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy candidate's seventh on the season and third in as many games. The marker was also the 20th of his IU career.
Eight minutes later the Hoosier offense added to the score line. It was again Tudela who started the play. He fed a pass to Plotkin on the left side of the 18. The Lisle, Ill., native sent a long bending cross toward the back post where senior midfielder Jordan Chirico was waiting to fire a header across the goal line into the opposite corner. It was the second of the season for Chirico with the assists being Tudela's fourth of the season (second of the night) and Plotkin's seventh helper of the campaign. With the assist, Plotkin upped his career points total to 71, which moved into a tie for 23rd on the all-time Hoosier list with Tim Walters (1976-79).
The Hoosiers held a distinct advantage throughout the first half by outshooting the Bulldogs, 12-3, and earning three corner kicks to BU's zero. The barrage had not yet come as a halftime speech from Hoosier headman Mike Freitag in the locker room brought out the best in the Hoosier offense.
The 65th minute saw Chirico create a scoring chance with a cross to the top of the 18. Junior midfielder Kevin Robson gathered the pass, moved to the right into free space and bent a shot over the outstretched arms of Butler goalkeeper Nick Hegeman into the upper right corner. The tally was Robson's second of the season and the assist was Chirico's fourth this year. It was the second time in the last three games that Chirico had registered a goal and an assist in a match. The IU offense decided one goal was not enough in the 65th minute.
Thirty-five seconds later redshirt freshman forward Kevin Noschang gathered a deflected pass and centered a pass to Ambersley eight yards from goal. The Ballwin, Mo., native cut the shot back into the right side of the net for his fourth goal on the season. Noschang earned his third assist of the campaign with the pass.
The Hoosier onslaught continued in the 76th minute as IU poured on the pressure. Junior frontrunner Jacob Peterson played a pass back to freshman midfielder Lee Nguyen in the center of the pitch, 35 yards from goal and went on a dead sprint to the left side of the 18. Nguyen sent a through ball back to Peterson, who cut a pass to the six from eight yards out. The ball found the foot of oncoming junior midfielder John Michael Hayden. The Louisville, Ky., native one-touched the ball past the drawn out Butler goalkeeper Mike Sims into a wide-open goal mouth. The tally was Hayden's third of the season with Peterson earning his second helper.
The barrage culminated in the 87th minute when Nguyen broke free in space in the offensive third and found a seam between two Butler defenders. The Richardson, Texas, native threaded the pass to redshirt freshman midfielder Billy Weaver. The Lake Orion, Mich., native took a shot with the Bulldog goalkeeper getting a hand to the ball only to see it spill out of his grasp slowly crossing the goal line. Weaver escaped the defense and made sure of the goal by pounding it into the top shelf of the net. The goal was Weaver's second on the season and in his young career.
The pair of assists gave Nguyen the team lead with eight. The match was the sixth straight with at least one point for the reigning Gatorade National Boys Soccer High School Player of the Year. In total the Hoosiers had nine helpers on the evening which equaled the fifth-best mark in school history. The last time an IU team had more than nine assists was on October 26, 1983 when it had 13 in a 14-0 victory over Louisville.
For the ninth time this season, the Hoosier defense registered a clean sheet. Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Munroe lowered his goals against average while making one save in the victory. Freshman net minder Chay Cain also saw action for the third time this season in the win.
Indiana closes out the Big Ten regular season with a matinee at home against Ohio State on Sunday, Oct. 23. The match is slated as part of a men's and women's soccer doubleheader and scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. The IU women will battle Big Ten foe Iowa at noon prior to the men's affair. The first 1,000 fans to the men's match will receive a team photo with an autograph session to follow the game.
