History Made with International Soccer Showcase

8/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Apr. 19, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - History was made on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium Tuesday night when the Mexican Youth National Team paid a visit for an international friendly against the two-time defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers. In a hard-fought contest witnessed by 3,472 raucous fans, the Hoosiers came up on the short end of the stick in a 2-1 affair. It marked the first time in over 30 years the Hoosiers had played an opponent from outside the U.S.

"This was a great soccer match," Indiana head coach Mike Freitag said. "Mexico is a very good technical team. I felt like the fans were treated to a great soccer match tonight. We do not like to lose, but we can definitely learn from a game like that. We made some mistakes, and it cost us. Their final goal was an exceptional goal that was fun to watch. I felt like the boys played well against a tough team."

The early going saw the Mexicans have a pair of solid attempts on goal. Ever Guzman got free on the left side only to be met by sophomore goalkeeper Chris Munroe at the edge of the six-yard box to make his first save of the game. On the subsequent corner, Alberto Gallegos lobbed a shot on goal from the top of the 18-yard box that was grabbed by Munroe.

At the 17:09 mark, the Mexicans notched the first tally. Efrain Juarez gained possession at the top of the box after a defensive miscue and flicked a shot over the outstretched arms of Munroe into the upper left corner.

The Cream and Crimson had a strong chance in the 22nd minute. Sophomore back Greg Stevning passed forward to junior forward Kevin Robson on the right flank. Robson broke free from the defense with a nice move and sent a shot toward the near post. However, Cristian Sanchez blocked the shot with his hand inside the 18-yard box leading to an Indiana penalty kick. Senior midfielder Brian Plotkin stepped to the penalty stripe and fired a shot only to see goalkeeper Sergio Arias smother the shot. The ball bounced away from Arias onto the foot of redshirt freshman forward Kevin Noschang whose shot was deflected wide by Arias.

Five minutes later junior midfielder Josh Tudela bent a shot toward the far post from the right side of the 18-yard box only to see Arias get a hand to it at the last instant. The 28th minute saw Robson break free again on the right side and centered a pass to Noschang inside the six-yard box, but Arias made the miraculous stop.

Indiana almost equalized in the 29th minute when Plotkin gathered the ball from 35 yards out and launched a shot that had the goalkeeper beat. But the ball drilled the crossbar and went high into the air only to be cleared by the defense.

However, the Hoosiers were able to equalize at the 35:35 mark. Junior midfielder John Michael Hayden gathered a pass from redshirt freshman forward Billy Weaver, dribbled 10 yards and fired a curling shot from 30 yards inside the left post.

IU had a chance to take the advantage in the 43rd minute. Noschang crossed the ball from the left side to Hayden on the right. Hayden one touched to Plotkin just inside the 18-yard box only to see his shot sail over the crossbar for a goal kick. The Hoosiers and the Mexican internationals went into the locker room knotted at one.

The teams opened the second stanza with chances on both ends, but neither side got the best of the other. In the 68th minute, Mexico had a pair of chances to take the advantage.

Cesar Villaluz was led into the box with a centered pass, but Munroe came off his line to knock the ball away. Omar Esparza gathered the loose ball at the 20-yard mark and fired a shot that was denied by the sure hands of Munroe.

IU had a great opportunity to take the advantage in the 72nd minute, but were unable to convert. Hayden crossed to Plotkin who was able to get a shot off. It was blocked wide right of the net by the Mexican defense.

Five minutes later, the Hoosiers' spring goal leader, Noschang, cut twice leaving a defender in his wake and placed a shot toward the left post. Arias was about to get his outstretch hands on the ball to deny the scoring chance.

The Hoosier defense finally succumbed to the Mexican pressure in the 82nd minute. In what amounted to an international-quality goal, Juarez heeled a pass back to Heriberto Beltran, who placed a picturesque shot past the outstretched arms of Munroe into the upper right corner of the net. The goal proved to be the game-winner, but Indiana mounted a final assault in the waning eight minutes.

In the 86th minute, Noschang broke through the Mexico defense into the middle of the box and tried to cut a shot toward the left post, but Arias again denied the IU forward with a diving save.

One minute later the Hoosiers earned a free kick after a foul on Mexico at the 25-yard mark. Plotkin took a shot toward the top left corner of the net, but the ball sailed over the crossbar for a goal kick.

After a controversial foul call on which Weaver took an elbow to the head, the Hoosiers had one final chance at the equalizer. Plotkin took the free kick one yard outside the 18-yard box, but the Mexican wall, which was inching forward during the kick, got a foot on the ball deflecting wide for a corner. IU was unable to produce from the corner when the full time whistle was blown.

Munroe, who finished the spring with a 0.57 goals against average, came up with 10 saves on the evening. Arias nearly matched his American counterpart for the majority of the match, coming away with seven stops.

The Cream and Crimson begin defense of their back-to-back national championships with the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sept. 2-4. The Hoosiers will host Wake Forest, SMU and Notre Dame, bringing together four of the top seven seeds from the 2004 NCAA Tournament. IU will take on Wake Forest on Friday, Sept. 2, at 7:30 pm, before battling SMU on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 2 pm.

Team 1-2-F
Indiana 1-0-1
Mexico 1-1-2

Scoring
17:09 - Mexico - 1-0 - Efrian Juarez (Unassisted)
35:35 - Indiana - 1-1 - John Michael Hayden (Billy Weaver)
81:15 - Mexico - 2-1 - Heriberto Beltan (Efrian Juarez)

Statistics
Shots: IU 16 (Plotkin 7, Noschang 4, Tudela 2, Hayden 1, Traylor 1, Robson 1) Mexico 15 (Esparza 4, Hernandez 3, Guzman 3, Beltran 1, Juarez 1, Gallegos 1, Andrade 1, Villiegra 1)
Fouls: IU 16,Mexico 16
Offsides: IU 2, Mexico 0
Corner Kicks: IU 11, Mexico 2
Saves: IU 10 (10 - Munroe), Mexico 7 (Arias - 7)
Cautions/Ejections: Yellow: Meixco - 20 Sanchez (22nd minute); 1 - Arias (87th minute); Team (90+ minute) Indiana - 6 Chirico (54th minute); 13 Mellencamp (69th minute)

Lineups
Indiana: GK: 33 - Chris Munroe; B: 2 - Julian Dieterle, 4 - Jed Zayner, 20 - Greg Stevning; MF: 6 - Jordan Chirico (13 - John Mellencamp, 65th minute), 7 - Josh Tudela, 8 - John Michael Hayden, 10 - Brian Plotkin, 15 - Charley Traylor; F - 21 - Kevin Noschang, 16 - Kevin Robson (19 - Billy Weaver, 34th minute)

Mexico: GK: 1 - Sergio Arias; B: 3 - Efrian Juarez, 4 - Edgar Mejia, 20 - Christian Sanchez, 17 - Pedro Valverde (5 - Jorge Torres, 63rd minute); MF - 6 - Omar Esparza, 7 - Jorge Hernandez, 11 - Alberto Gallegos (8 - Juan Carlos Silva, 45th minute), 13 - Edgar Andrade (9 - Carlos Vela, 63rd minute), MF: 18 - Cesar Villiegra; F: 10 - Ever Guzman (14 - Heriberto Beltran, 75th minute)