Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Penn State
No. 10 Indiana Knocks Off Penn State, 1-0
10/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 28, 2007
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- - Brad Ring's fourth goal of the season proved to be enough for the 10th-ranked Indiana men's soccer team to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a 1-0 win over Penn State Sunday afternoon at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The win puts the Hoosiers at 11-4-2 overall and 4-0-1 in league play. Penn State falls to 5-8-3, 1-2-2 Big Ten.
"I was satisfied with the way we played today," said head coach Mike Freitag. "It was a pretty physical match and we did some good things at times. I was confident that the defense was not going to allow a goal and it is important for us to have solid play defensively."
Despite outshooting the Nittany Lions by a 9-5 margin in the first half, Indiana was not able to get on the board until early in the second period. Ring's second goal in as many games came at 49:57 off an assist from Michael Roach. Roach held the ball as Ring made a run down the middle and held off his pass until just before Ring got to PSU's last line of defense. Ring ran right past the Nittany Lions and took a one-on-one shot against PSU goalkeeper Conrad Taylor, slotting home the ball for the score.
"It feels good, not just because I scored but because we ended up with a win," Ring said. "All that matters is the victory and I think we have momentum now heading into these last two matches and the Big Ten Tournament."
That was one of three shots on the afternoon for Ring, two of which were on goal. Kevin Noschang led IU with four attempts as the Hoosiers finished with 14 shots to Penn State's eight.
The match was not without a bit of drama as Indiana had to fight through an injury wave that swept through the team. The most serious-looking injury came to senior defender Greg Stevning in the first half as he landed on his knee in an awkward position. Stevning remained on the bench for the rest of the first half, but returned to play all 45 minutes in the second period.
At different points in the match, Daniel Kelly, Darren Yeagle, Kevin Alston, Brian Ackley and Eric Alexander all came off the pitch with various ailments.
"It was almost like a MASH unit out there with guys going down," Freitag said. "They were falling left and right, but our depth really showed today as guys were able to step in and take over."
Indiana had a chance to take the lead early when a scramble in front of the net off a Kelly corner kick placed the ball right at Noschang's head. The junior sent his attempt high. Overall, Noschang had five of Indiana's first six shot attempts.
Penn State's first on-goal attempt came in the first minute of the second half when Vincent Salvatico intercepted the ball about 18 yards out of the IU goal. With just IU keeper Chay Cain in front of him, Salvatico sent in an attempt that Cain was able to stop.
Treavor Gelsinger nearly tied the game in the 53rd minute as Cain misjudged his shot, thinking it was about to go wide, and the ball clanged off the right post and back into play. Frank Costigliola corralled the rebound but sent his shot wide.
The match marked the final regular-season home appearance for seniors Stevning, Charley Traylor and Chris Munroe.
Indiana will play its final two games of the regular season on the road, beginning with Kentucky on Wednesday night. The Hoosiers then close out Big Ten play at Wisconsin, on Sunday, Nov. 4.
