Indiana University Athletics
Men's Soccer Holds First Preseason Practice
8/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 13, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University men's soccer team began its quest for an eighth national title on Wednesday with its first team practices of the season.
The Hoosiers hit the pitch twice on Wednesday, beginning with a spirited two-hour practice in the morning at Karst Farm Park in Bloomington. After lunch and a bit of rest, the team reconvened for another workout, this time at the team's on-campus practice field.
"I thought it was a good first day," said head coach Mike Freitag. "There are a lot of talented players out there and it is good to get them back and get their feet underneath them."
A total of eight newcomers put on Indiana gear for the first time, and coaching legend Jerry Yeagley took a minute to speak to the entire team at the conclusion of the morning practice.
The afternoon practice opened with some ball drills before two 30-minute periods of action. It was orange vs. white, with most of last year's starters comprising the orange team, and a mix of veterans and newcomers on the white side.
The orange team took control early, with sophomore Michael Roach coming up with near miss on a ball from Billy Weaver. Trying to loft the ball over goalkeeper Chris Munroe's head, Roach sent the ball just high. Roach had a hand in another scoring opportunity as he sent a cross into the penalty area to be played. Munroe bobbled the ball and senior Kevin Noschang was ready with a shot, but the redshirt freshman keeper blocked the attempt.
Continuing to control the pace of play, junior Lee Hagedorn nearly put the orange on top with a header off a corner from Weaver. Munroe again came up with the save to keep the scrimmage scoreless.
"I see so much good out here that once we get it all together it is going to be a very positive year," Freitag said.
Despite the dominance of the orange team, it was the white squad that took a 1-0 lead in the first 30-minute period thanks to freshman Will Bruin. Bruin slotted home a low roller to the left of senior goalkeeper Chay Cain for the score.
The coaches switched up players on each team and this time it was Bruin scoring for the orange to make it a tie game in the second period. Junior Darren Yeagle sent in a hard shot that bounced back into the field of play where a waiting Bruin hit a hard shot past freshman goalkeeper Luis Soffner.
Yeagle nearly gave the orange team the lead with a shot across the goal mouth that rolled just wide, but it was junior Eric Alexander who put the orange up for good at 2-1, bringing down a lofting ball served over his head and getting past Soffner.
Indiana has just one week to prepare for its exhibition opener, a match against Tulsa on Aug. 20 at the Scott-Gallagher Friendlies in St. Louis, Mo. The Golden Hurricane are ranked No. 25 in the College Soccer News preseason poll. The Hoosiers then travel to the National Soccer Festival in Ft. Wayne, Ind. where they will face preseason No. 29 North Carolina on Aug. 22. All this preparation is a build-up for the season opener on Aug. 29 against Duke at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
HOOSIER NOTES:
- Indiana is ranked No. 4 in the College Soccer News preseason poll. The Hoosiers are the highest-ranked Big Ten team, ahead of No. 16 Northwestern and No. 23 Ohio State. Other IU opponents in the rankings are No. 9 UC Santa Barbara, No. 11 South Florida, No. 14 UCLA, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 18 Akron and No. 21 Louisville.
- The NSCAA/adidas preseason poll was also released on Tuesday and IU occupies the No. 7 slot. The 2007 NCAA Champion Wake Forest is No. 1 in both polls. Ohio State (No. 9) and Northwestern (No. 20) join IU as Big Ten representatives.
- All 31 players passed the fitness test administered to the team on Tuesday.
