Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Fall To Columbus Crew, 1-0
3/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
March 24, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Indiana men's soccer team opened its spring season with a 1-0 loss to Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.
"Even though we had a chance, you can tell who the better team was, as they should be," head coach Mike Freitag said. "It's a team that made us better because guys had to be more focused. Communication had to be better. It was a learning experience for our guys today. I think we handled ourselves pretty well and did alright.
"I thought everybody played really well. It was nice to see some of the guys get their first time in the Hoosier uniform, including Daniel Kelly, Neil Wilmarth and Nick Sutter. It's the start of spring and we hadn't played outdoors in several months, but I was pleased and I look forward to continuing to get better every day."
The game's only goal was scored in the 64th minute on a shot down the middle from Brad Evans, assisted on a long serve from former Hoosier Danny O'Rourke. O'Rourke won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy as the Division I Player of the Year while at Indiana.
Defense was the story of the day, as Chay Cain and Chris Munroe each played a half in goal, with both making several solid saves. Cain took a shot at point blank range off the foot of Rusty Pierce and another shot from Kei Kamara saw him make a dive to his left. Munroe also took several shots at close range. The rest of the Hoosiers stepped up on the field, blocking some shots and deflecting a number of crosses.
Indiana had a number of good looks at the goal throughout the course of the game. In the first half, Kelly made a run down the right side of the field that resulted in a corner kick that was eventually cleared out. John Mellencamp also had a strong run broken up and Darren Yeagle's shot late in the half was wide of the goal.
In the second half, Wilmarth gave Indiana its best chance to score with a clear shot that went high. As the clock wound down, Billy Weaver sent a cross that was just a few feet away from Yeagle.
The Crew has played three exhibition games against collegiate opponents this spring, and Indiana is the only team that has held Columbus to one goal. The Crew defeated defending NCAA champion UC-Santa Barbara 4-1, and beat UC-Irvine 2-0.
Starting for the Crew were former Hoosiers O'Rourke and Ned Grabavoy, while Jed Zayner, who is recovering from a knee injury, watched from the sidelines. Grabavoy and Zayner both earned All-American honors while at Indiana.
Indiana plays its first game of the spring on Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium on March 31 against St. Louis. When the two teams met in the regular season, the Billikens defeated the Hoosiers, 1-0.
