Indiana University Athletics
Women's Soccer Set to Open Exhibition Season
8/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 18, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana women's soccer team will begin its 2006 season on Saturday, Aug. 19, with an exhibition contest against Indiana State in Fort Wayne, Ind. The game, scheduled for 5 p.m., will be part of the IPFW Soccer Showcase, which will run from Aug. 17-19 at IPFW's Hefner Soccer Complex.
"We're ready to play," head coach Mick Lyon said. "We've played some serious 11-on-11 against each other and have been able to score a lot of goals, and now the test will be whether we can do it against a defense that won't like us as much. The fortunate thing is that it's an in-state clash, it's Indiana versus Indiana State so it should be a good one."
In their history, the Hoosiers have faced the Sycamores twice during regular season play, with IU winning both contests. Indiana topped its fellow state school 3-0 in 2001 and 2-1 in 2002. Lyon has a 3-0-1 record against Indiana State in his career, posting a 2-0-1 mark while he piloted Evansville in addition to his 2002 victory for the Hoosiers.
Indiana returns seven starters and 16 letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 7-10-2 mark and earned its fourth straight trip to the Big Ten Tournament. Lyon and his staff have added nine incoming freshmen, many of who are likely to see significant playing time this season.
The Soccer Showcase, in its seventh year of existence, features men's and women's teams from Indiana, Indiana State, Maryland, IPFW, IUPUI, Marquette, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Illinois-Chicago, Central Michigan, DePaul and Toledo.
Indiana will begin its 2006 regular season at the Wisconsin Soccer Invitational on Friday, Aug. 25, against No. 10 California (National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll) at 5:30 EDT. The Hoosiers will wrap up the Invitational on Sunday, Aug. 27, against 2005 NCAA Tournament participant Creighton at noon.
