Indiana University Athletics
Men's Soccer Earns Top-10 Ranking in Preseason Polls
8/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 12, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana men's soccer team is ranked No. 7 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll, and No. 6 in the TopDrawerSoccer preseason national rankings released Tuesday.
The Hoosiers are now ranked among the top 10 in three preseason polls, also garnering the No. 7 spot in the College Soccer News preseason listing earlier this summer. Four of the Big Ten Conference's seven teams are ranked in the NSCAA poll.
Nine of Indiana's 18 regular-season opponents are ranked among the NSCAA top 25, led by Wake Forest and Akron, which share the No. 3 spot. The Hoosiers will face the Demon Deacons at Armstrong Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 6, at 2 p.m. in a game that will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network. The Zips and Hoosiers will meet up on Sept. 18 in Akron.
Also ranked is No. 5 St. John's, IU's season-opening opponent on Sept. 4, No. 9 Northwestern (Oct. 25), No. 12 Notre Dame (Oct. 14), No. 16 UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 2), No. 20 Michigan State (Oct. 18), No. 22 Michigan (Oct. 10) and No. 25 Louisville (Oct. 21). Defending national champion Maryland is the preseason No. 1 pick, followed by North Carolina.
Indiana opens preseason camp on Aug. 19 and returns seven starters from last year's team which went 14-7-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers will be featured on national television a minimum of five times this season, beginning with their match up against Wake Forest.
The Hoosiers will face Drake (Aug. 27) and DePaul (Aug. 29) in exhibition matches at the National Soccer Festival in Ft. Wayne, Ind. The season kicks off on Sept. 4 with the annual adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, featuring St. John's, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Indiana.
