Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Close Out Big Ten Regular season
10/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 21, 2005
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The two-time defending national champion Indiana men's soccer team rounds out its brief two-game homestand on Sunday, Oct. 23, against Ohio State. The game will serve as the Big Ten finale for the No. 6 Hoosiers. 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.
Hoosier News and Notes
- Indiana is ranked No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
- The Hoosiers are averaging 3,171 fans per match at Armstrong Stadium. Indiana has drawn 19,025 total fans in six home matches this season.
- Junior forward Jacob Peterson currently ranks among the Hoosier top 25 in two career categories. He is tied for 21st on the career goals list with 25 during his three-year career. Peterson needs two goals to move into a tie for 20th. He is tied for 19th with 165 career shots. The Portage, Mich., native needs two more attempts to move into 18th.
- Senior midfielder Brian Plotkin ranks among the IU all-time top 25 in three categories. He is 13th in assists with 31 career helpers. With one more assist, he will move into a tie for 11th place with current MLS star Pat Noonan and Pat McGauley. Plotkin ranks ninth on IU's career shots list with 247, trailing eighth place Paul DiBernardo by four. The Lisle, Ill., native moved into a tie for 23rd place on the Hoosiers' career points list, following his goal and assist against Butler. Plotkin has 71 career points as a Hoosier.
- Senior Mike Ambersley ranks among IU's top 25 in career shots. He is tied for 23rd with 145 career attempts. He trails Matt Fundenberger, who is 22nd, by 17 shots.
- Peterson recorded his second career hat trick and 48th in 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 15th nationally in goals against average (GAA) as of Oct. 16. He has a GAA of 0.56. Munroe had a career-best seven saves in a victory over then-No. 25 Cal State-Northridge on Sept. 16.
- As a team (as of Oct. 16), Indiana ranked eighth nationally in shutout percentage, blanking nine of 14 opponents. The Hoosier defense also ranks 10th in the country in goals against average at 0.53. IU ranks seventh nationally in goals per game with 2.86 per contest.
Scouting Ohio State
Ohio State is 8-6-1 on the season following a 3-2 victory over a tough Oakland squad in Columbus on Wednesday. The Buckeyes went 1-1 a week ago opening with a 3-1 victory at Louisville before falling, 1-0, in double overtime to Penn State. OSU is 1-2 in the Big Ten with a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin and losses to Penn State and Michigan State (2-0).
The Hoosiers and Buckeyes have two common opponents outside the Big Ten. Indiana defeated Louisville, 2-0, and OSU defeated the Cardinals last week in Louisville. Ohio State lost to Butler, 1-0, while the Hoosiers upended the Bulldogs, 6-0, on Wednesday night.
Offensively, Ohio State is led by the tandem of senior forward Kevin Nugent and sophomore forward Xavier Balc. The duo are the lone OSU players with double-digit points. Nugent leads the team with 16 points on six goals and three assists, while Balc has 13 points on five goals and three assists. Freshman midfielder Danny Irizarry leads the team in assists with four helpers.
Senior goalkeeper Ray Burse, Jr. has started all 15 matches for the Buckeyes in net. He has a goals against average of 1.12 to go along with 45 saves and three shutouts. He was a second team All-Big Ten selection a season ago.
All-time, the Hoosiers are 30-1 against Ohio State, including a 15-0 mark in Bloomington. IU has won the last four meetings between the two schools, including a 1-0 victory on the road last season. John Michael Hayden scored on an 18-yard strike in the opening minutes of the second half to propel the Hoosiers to victory.
Senior Leaders
The senior trio of Brian Plotkin, Mike Ambersley and Jordan Chirico have been an integral part of the Hoosier success during their careers in Bloomington. The threesome are doing their best to make their final season in Bloomington a magical one. The trio has really been picking it up as of late. The examples being set by the elder statesmen are being followed as the Hoosiers' are unbeaten in their last six matches (5-0-1).
On Oct. 19 against Butler, all three seniors tallied a goal and an assist in the 6-0 victory. Ambersley found Plotkin with a header for the game-winner against the Bulldogs. Not long after, Plotkin found Chirico for a header on the back post. Chirico notched an assist and Ambersley scored a goal in the four-goal, second-half barrage against Butler.
In two of the last three Hoosier matches, Chirico has notched a goal and an assist upping his season points total to eight (2g, 4a). Ambersley has been a model of consistency whether it be in the midfield or up front as a forward. The Ballwin, Mo., native has already equaled his points total of 12 from a season ago and better his goal total with four markers this season.
Plotkin has been the leader of the Hoosiers this season. He tops the squad in points (21), goals (7) and game-winners (3). In each of the last three matches, the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy candidate has notched a goal for the Hoosiers.
Offensive Fire Power
The Hoosiers have shown the offensive firepower during the 2005 season. Indiana leads the Big Ten in nearly every offensive category, including goals, assists and points. In fact, the Hoosiers are averaging 2.62 goals per contest and 7.46 points per game. Nationally, Indiana is seventh in goals per game as of Oct. 16.
IU has five games with five or more goals this season. It marks the first time the Hoosiers have accomplished that feat since the 1997 team pulled the trick. The last time IU had six regular season games of five or more goals was during the 1987 campaign.
Butler became the latest Hoosier victim as IU notched six goals in the victory. It was the first match with six since Sept. 22, 2002, when IU won at Michigan State, 6-1. The last time the Hoosiers scored six goals at home was a 6-0 victory over IUPUI on Nov. 4, 2001.
Also in the match against Butler, the Hoosiers showed a knack for distributing the ball. IU totaled nine assists in the win, matching the fifth-best total in school history. The last time an IU team had more than nine assists in a match was on October 26, 1983 when it had 13 in a 14-0 victory over Louisville.
The Hoosiers notched 5-0 victories over Boston University and Cal State-Northridge in back-to-back matches on Sept. 11 and 16, respectively. It marked the first time since 1999 that Indiana had back-to-back five-goal performances. During the 1999 season, which was capped by the second of back-to-back national titles, IU defeated Butler, 5-0, on Oct. 7 and Evansville, 6-0, on Oct. 10.
Indiana also own five-goal performances against IUPUI (5-0) on Oct. 2 and Wisconsin (5-2) on Oct. 14.
Players Mentioned
