Indiana University Athletics
Indiana to Face Drake, DePaul at National Soccer Festival
8/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 26, 2009
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana men's soccer team will play its only two matches of the preseason this weekend as it travels to Ft. Wayne, Ind. for the National Soccer Festival. The Hoosiers, ranked No. 4 in the Soccer America preseason poll and No. 7 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, will face Drake on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by DePaul on Saturday at 8 p.m.
The National Soccer Festival is an annual event for the Hoosiers as they defeated North Carolina by a 3-0 score at last year's event. The Tar Heels went on to advance to the championship game of the NCAA College Cup.
Indiana is coming off a 14-7-3 campaign where it advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before falling to St. John's on the road, 3-2 in overtime. The Hoosiers return seven starters from last year's team, including All-Big Ten performers in senior midfielder Eric Alexander and junior midfielder Andy Adlard. Adlard led the team in scoring last year with seven goals and five assists (19 points). Also back in the fold is 2008 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Will Bruin. Bruin tallied six goals in his rookie campaign and was a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman team selection.
Holding down the defense are senior Ofori Sarkodie and sophomore Tommy Meyer. Sarkodie was an All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore and has started 58 of 61 career matches. Meyer was a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman selection last year, starting 16 of 18 matches played.
Earlier this month Indiana was picked to win the Big Ten Conference in a poll of the conference coaches. It was the seventh-straight season that Indiana was given the nod. The Hoosiers have won outright or shared in 13 Big Ten regular season titles and have been crowned tournament champion 11 times since the conference started sponsoring men's soccer in 1991.
The exhibition matches will prepare IU for arguably the toughest schedule in the nation in 2009. The Hoosiers will face 10 teams (out of 18) that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2008, including season-opening matches against College Cup participants St. John's (preseason No. 3/No. 5) and Wake Forest (Preseason No. 5/No. 3). Indiana will also travel to Akron, picked preseason No. 1 by Top Drawer Soccer, and UC Santa Barbara, the 2006 NCAA Champion.
The Hoosiers will have a minimum of five matches broadcast on national television this year, beginning with Wake Forest (2 p.m. ET) on Sept. 6 on the Big Ten Network. The Big Ten Network will also broadcast matches at Michigan (Oct. 10-3:30 p.m. ET), vs. Michigan State (Oct. 18-2 p.m.) and at Northwestern (Oct. 25-4 p.m.). Indiana's match at UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 2 will be shown live on the Fox Soccer Channel (11 p.m. ET).
