Indiana University Athletics
Practices Intensify as Preseason Match Looms
8/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 20, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - With its only exhibition match of the preseason just five days away, the Indiana men's soccer team continued its workout regimine with another pair of practices on Monday.
A break in the humidity allowed for more pleasant conditions in the morning as the team scrimmaged at Karst Farm Park. As the Hoosiers continued to work on their shape and timing, Kevin Noschang (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota West) tallied a late goal for the blue team after goalkeeper Chris Munroe (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) came out off his line.
Despite the threat of rain, the afternoon session went off without a hitch at the IU Practice Field. Training began with small-sided work before a full-on scrimmage for the final 45 minutes.
Just a 1:10 in, the white side found itself with a 1-0 lead as Billy Weaver (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) slid one past Chay Cain (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) in goal. Noschang nearly had the equalizer with a dead-on shot that was blocked by Munroe. The blue squad did bring things even at 1-all with a Brian Ackley (Cary, N.C./Athens Drive) header off a corner kick.
The remainder of the scrimmage saw plenty of chances for the blue team in front of the net, with no one able to make the finishing strike. Freshman Andy Adlard (Hartland, Wis./Brookfield East) clinked one off the left post, and Noschang sent the ball into the right-side netting on another open look. Active up top all day, Noschang sent a curler into the goal mouth that Munroe was just able to get a hand on.
While the intensity remains with players battling for starting spots, head coach Mike Freitag is easing down a bit on the physical aspect of practice to give the guys fresher legs when they face New Mexico on Saturday night at the National Soccer Festival in Ft. Wayne, Ind.
"I thought last year in our exhibition game (vs. UIC) we were too tired to play as well as we could have," Freitag said. "They guys had the will, but their bodies just wouldn't allow them to do some of the things they wanted to do."
Freitag and his staff are also still putting the pieces together for their starting lineup on Saturday.
"We are still talking about a few things and playing around a little bit with our formation," Freitag said. "Things are starting to look good, but there are still a lot of questions to be answered."
NOTES: After a week of practice, the team has stayed relatively healthy with just a few bumps and bruises here and there ... on Friday the team bid farewell to volunteer assistant coach Juergen Sommer as he headed to Sweden. Sommer serves as the goalkeepers coach for the U.S. Men's National Team and will be with the squad for its friendly on Wednesday against the Swedish side ... back from his stint with the U-18 National Team at the SBS Cup in Japan is Daniel Kelly. Kelly got the start in a 1-0 loss to Shizuoka Youth, and came on the second half in a 3-0 loss to Ukraine. He played the entire first half in a 1-0 win over Japan to close out tournament play ... FILL THE BILL: the Hoosiers are looking to break the attendance record when they take on preseason No. 1 UCLA on Sunday, Sept. 2. Youth teams can gain free admission to the match by downloading an application on iuhoosiers.com. There will also be an autograph session after the game.
