Indiana University Athletics
IU Hosts Mexican National Team (03-23-05)
3/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
"It's an honor to play a team with the tradition of success that Mexico has," Indiana head coach Mike Freitag said. "It's not every day you get to play against a team of young professionals representing their country. We are very excited about the competition that comes with playing one of the top youth teams in the world."
IU Soccer will partner with the Indiana Youth Soccer Association in benefiting the Latino soccer programs around the state of Indiana. General admission for the game is $5 with children under 6 receiving free admission. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or by calling the IU Athletic Ticket Office at 866-IUSPORTS. Group discounts are available by contacting the ticket office.
The last international match played at Armstrong Stadium was in May of 1992, when the USA hosted Canada in an Olympic qualifier. Former Hoosier Steve Snow scored twice in front of 7,500 fans in a 3-1 USA victory.
Mexico will be preparing for the final round of qualifying for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship to be played in Peru, September 15 through October 2. The 2003 Youth Championships saw Mexico advance to the quarterfinals before falling 2-0 to Argentina.
2004 saw the Hoosiers win their seventh national title and second straight. First year head coach Mike Freitag lost three players to the MLS Superdraft, but returns a solid nucleus of eight starters. Seven of the eight started for both the 2003 and 2004 national title teams.
IU went 19-4-1 in 2004 on its way to back to back national titles. The Cream and Crimson downed UC-Santa Barbara in the title game, 3-2 in penalty kicks. The Hoosiers return their top-five scorers from a season ago. Junior forward Jacob Peterson led IU with 24 points (11g, 2a), while senior midfielder Brian Plotkin was second with 19 points (5g, 9a). Junior midfielder John Michael Hayden was third with 18 points (7g,4a). Senior forward Mike Ambersley (3g, 6a) and junior forward/ midfielder Kevin Robson (1g, 7a) rounded out that Hoosier top five with 12 and 9 points, respectively.
