Indiana University Athletics
Men's Soccer Picked as Big Ten Conference Favorite
8/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 12, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - For the seventh season in a row, the Indiana men's soccer team is the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten Conference title in a poll conducted among conference coaches, the conference office announced Wednesday.
Indiana received the most votes, followed by Northwestern, Michigan State and Ohio State. Wisconsin and Penn State tied for fifth, with Michigan seventh.
"It is a nice complement for our program, but we know the Big Ten title will be decided on the field," said head coach Mike Freitag, who is entering his sixth season at the helm of the program. "We know this is a difficult league with a lot of talented players. We will be ready for every match and hopefully at the end of the season find ourselves in the top spot."
Indiana returns seven starters from last year's team which posted a 14-7-3 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Senior midfielder Eric Alexander was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection in 2008, while junior midfielder Andy Adlard earned second-team honors. Sophomore Will Bruin garnered the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award after tallying five goals in his rookie campaign.
The Hoosiers are ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA/adidas preseason poll, as well as the College Soccer News preseason rankings. TopDrawerSoccer has pegged IU as No. 6 in the nation in its preseason poll.
Preseason camp for the Hoosiers opens on Aug. 19, with the first of two exhibition games slated for Aug. 27 against Drake. Indiana will also face DePaul in preseason action on Aug. 29, before opening the regular season on Sept. 4 against St. John's in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
