Indiana University Athletics
DiPrimio: Taking Care of Business – IU Surges into Big Ten Title Contention
10/25/2024 8:06:00 PM | Men's Soccer
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosies.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Todd Yeagley pauses through Zoom media opportunity to consider the possibilities. Another Big Ten men's soccer title opportunity has arrived, and if it's not totally in Indiana's control, it's tantalizingly close.
Beat No. 15 UCLA on Friday night and Northwestern next Tuesday in its final two conference games, see what happens with fellow Big Ten title contenders Maryland and Ohio State, and go from there.
"It will be a great race to the end," Yeagley says. "We need to take care of business and get help, but not a lot of help. If we get the six points available to us, we're in a great position. We would love to put a lot of pressure on that title race on the final position day."
The No. 25 Hoosiers and second-ranked Maryland share the Big Ten lead with 17 points. Top-ranked Ohio State is right behind with 16.
The Hoosiers lost to Maryland 1-0 and tied Ohio State 2-2. They are 5-1-2 in the Big Ten and 7-3-5 overall.
The Terrapins are 5-0-2 in the Big Ten, 8-1-5 overall. The Buckeyes, who just earned their first-ever men's soccer No. 1 ranking, are 5-1-2 in the conference and 10-1-2 overall.
Maryland and Ohio State will play each other on Nov. 3, the final day of the regular season. The Hoosiers end their regular season Nov. 1 against Trine.
IU is seeking its second straight Big Ten regular season title, its fifth since 2018 and its sixth under Yeagley, who is coming off his 200th Hoosier coaching victory.
"There's nothing we can do but wait and see," he says about the conference race. "We need points in both these (Big Ten) games to make it a race.
"I assume Maryland and Ohio State will hold serve until they play each other in that last game.
"It's hard to predict what will happen. It will be a battle. It's a battle everywhere on the table. No one has secured anything. That's exciting for all of us."
Hoosier excitement comes from another late-season surge. They are 5-0-2 in their last seven games, including four straight victories, fueled by a combination of offensive ruthlessness (20 goals and seven-straight multi-goal games, their best streak since 2001) and defensive stinginess (they have allowed just one goal in their last three games).
The result – IU's Big Ten record is its best through eight games since winning conference titles in 2019 and 2020-21 with 7-1-0 marks. It's positioned to make the NCAA tourney for a 38th straight season as well as earn a top-16 seed.
These are among the reasons why Yeagley coaches, why his players choose to be Hoosiers, why they embrace chances such as this, and the national title prospects beyond.
"We're in striking distance," Yeagley says. "That's all we can ask for. We control our destiny. That's exciting. Our schedule will help us."
Facing Saint Louis, Notre Dame, Dayton and Kentucky boosted IU's strength of schedule even while contributing to a 2-3-3 start – the third straight slow start to a season – that threatened to jeopardize IU's NCAA tourney-making prospects.
What turned it around?
"It helps a lot when we have guys who are leaders who have been through seasons where the beginning wasn't easy, when there were challenges and their form wasn't the best, and they believed in the process," Yeagley says. "They didn't lose confidence. They continued to want to get better. They understand it's a long season and you can't let the lows and losses – and some of the ties felt like losses – affect the mindset of the group."
For Yeagley and his staff, it was about "over-communication" and stressing consistent quality of play with the understanding, "if you play poorly and get a win, that won't last. That will catch up to you."
"That's why I want to hit performance in the early stages. Sure, we're trying to win those games, but sometimes it takes a little more time."
Building a team, especially in this NIL/transfer portal era, adds to a challenge already intensity by unprecedented national parity. IU ramps that up with strong scheduling that brings risk and reward.
"Some years we've started better, but we schedule tough," Yeagley says.
"We always will take a bump here or there. We could start easier, and maybe get a false sense that we're further along than we think."
Yeagley, as his father, Jerry, and Mike Freitag, did before him, coaches with the big picture in mind, and the result has been eight national championships and nine runner-up finishes.
"It's scheduling, it's guys who believe in the process, and it's having guys who can ratchet it up themselves and find another gear," Yeagley says. "What you don't want is play your best in the first two to three games of the season.
"Ultimately, you want to build. How much do you squeeze the group early to get optimum performance? You want to play good soccer and get results along the way."
IU historically dominates October. Over the last four years, it is 22-4-6 in the month, and 313-56-41 all time.
Its latest surge is fueled as much by player performance as team execution and has the latest Big Ten weekly honors to prove it. Graduate forward Justin Weiss is Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Junior defender Quinton Elliot is the conference defensive player of the week.
Weiss scored three goals in wins over No. 18 Michigan and Michigan State last week. That gives him 22 goals for his career, which equals the number for teammates Tommy Mihalic and Samuel Sarver.
Elliot scored a goal against Michigan, plus had an assist against the Wolverines and Michigan State. He was the anchor in a defense that shut out Penn State and Michigan, and only allowed one goal against Michigan State.
The week before, Hoosier senior defender Jansen Miller earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, while midfielder Charlie Heuer was conference freshman of the week.
Now comes a California trip to a tradition national power. Friday night's game will feature NCAA Division I men's soccer's winningest program by wins (UCLA with 1,027) and by percentage (Indiana at 77.3).
The Bruins (6-3-5) are coming off a 1-1 tie with Maryland and a 3-0 win over Rutgers. Wyatt Nelson was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week after recording a total of 10 saves in both games. Midfielder Tamir Ratoviz was conference freshman of the week after scoring the tying goal against Maryland.
"They are a very technical team," Yeagley said. "They have guys who are comfortable with the ball, and interchange well within their positions. They are very fluid and unpredictable. That's a tough thing. They ask tough questions of the opponent. They have some guys who can individually break you down. They have a lot of talent."
The cross-country travel and 10:30 p.m. kickoff time won't be problems, Yeagley says.
"A lot of it is in your head. You can push through it. It won't be the reason why we score or get scored on.
"We will acclimate the best we can and enjoy the experience. We're going out there to get three points.
"You say it's a business trip, but you can have fun at the same time. The business comes when we're between the lines. Outside of that, you can have a fun, joyous trip to L.A. That's the plan."
IUHoosies.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Todd Yeagley pauses through Zoom media opportunity to consider the possibilities. Another Big Ten men's soccer title opportunity has arrived, and if it's not totally in Indiana's control, it's tantalizingly close.
Beat No. 15 UCLA on Friday night and Northwestern next Tuesday in its final two conference games, see what happens with fellow Big Ten title contenders Maryland and Ohio State, and go from there.
"It will be a great race to the end," Yeagley says. "We need to take care of business and get help, but not a lot of help. If we get the six points available to us, we're in a great position. We would love to put a lot of pressure on that title race on the final position day."
The No. 25 Hoosiers and second-ranked Maryland share the Big Ten lead with 17 points. Top-ranked Ohio State is right behind with 16.
The Hoosiers lost to Maryland 1-0 and tied Ohio State 2-2. They are 5-1-2 in the Big Ten and 7-3-5 overall.
The Terrapins are 5-0-2 in the Big Ten, 8-1-5 overall. The Buckeyes, who just earned their first-ever men's soccer No. 1 ranking, are 5-1-2 in the conference and 10-1-2 overall.
Maryland and Ohio State will play each other on Nov. 3, the final day of the regular season. The Hoosiers end their regular season Nov. 1 against Trine.
IU is seeking its second straight Big Ten regular season title, its fifth since 2018 and its sixth under Yeagley, who is coming off his 200th Hoosier coaching victory.
"There's nothing we can do but wait and see," he says about the conference race. "We need points in both these (Big Ten) games to make it a race.
"I assume Maryland and Ohio State will hold serve until they play each other in that last game.
"It's hard to predict what will happen. It will be a battle. It's a battle everywhere on the table. No one has secured anything. That's exciting for all of us."
Hoosier excitement comes from another late-season surge. They are 5-0-2 in their last seven games, including four straight victories, fueled by a combination of offensive ruthlessness (20 goals and seven-straight multi-goal games, their best streak since 2001) and defensive stinginess (they have allowed just one goal in their last three games).
The result – IU's Big Ten record is its best through eight games since winning conference titles in 2019 and 2020-21 with 7-1-0 marks. It's positioned to make the NCAA tourney for a 38th straight season as well as earn a top-16 seed.
These are among the reasons why Yeagley coaches, why his players choose to be Hoosiers, why they embrace chances such as this, and the national title prospects beyond.
"We're in striking distance," Yeagley says. "That's all we can ask for. We control our destiny. That's exciting. Our schedule will help us."
Facing Saint Louis, Notre Dame, Dayton and Kentucky boosted IU's strength of schedule even while contributing to a 2-3-3 start – the third straight slow start to a season – that threatened to jeopardize IU's NCAA tourney-making prospects.
What turned it around?
"It helps a lot when we have guys who are leaders who have been through seasons where the beginning wasn't easy, when there were challenges and their form wasn't the best, and they believed in the process," Yeagley says. "They didn't lose confidence. They continued to want to get better. They understand it's a long season and you can't let the lows and losses – and some of the ties felt like losses – affect the mindset of the group."
For Yeagley and his staff, it was about "over-communication" and stressing consistent quality of play with the understanding, "if you play poorly and get a win, that won't last. That will catch up to you."
"That's why I want to hit performance in the early stages. Sure, we're trying to win those games, but sometimes it takes a little more time."
Building a team, especially in this NIL/transfer portal era, adds to a challenge already intensity by unprecedented national parity. IU ramps that up with strong scheduling that brings risk and reward.
"Some years we've started better, but we schedule tough," Yeagley says.
"We always will take a bump here or there. We could start easier, and maybe get a false sense that we're further along than we think."
Yeagley, as his father, Jerry, and Mike Freitag, did before him, coaches with the big picture in mind, and the result has been eight national championships and nine runner-up finishes.
"It's scheduling, it's guys who believe in the process, and it's having guys who can ratchet it up themselves and find another gear," Yeagley says. "What you don't want is play your best in the first two to three games of the season.
"Ultimately, you want to build. How much do you squeeze the group early to get optimum performance? You want to play good soccer and get results along the way."
IU historically dominates October. Over the last four years, it is 22-4-6 in the month, and 313-56-41 all time.
Its latest surge is fueled as much by player performance as team execution and has the latest Big Ten weekly honors to prove it. Graduate forward Justin Weiss is Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Junior defender Quinton Elliot is the conference defensive player of the week.
Weiss scored three goals in wins over No. 18 Michigan and Michigan State last week. That gives him 22 goals for his career, which equals the number for teammates Tommy Mihalic and Samuel Sarver.
Elliot scored a goal against Michigan, plus had an assist against the Wolverines and Michigan State. He was the anchor in a defense that shut out Penn State and Michigan, and only allowed one goal against Michigan State.
The week before, Hoosier senior defender Jansen Miller earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, while midfielder Charlie Heuer was conference freshman of the week.
Now comes a California trip to a tradition national power. Friday night's game will feature NCAA Division I men's soccer's winningest program by wins (UCLA with 1,027) and by percentage (Indiana at 77.3).
The Bruins (6-3-5) are coming off a 1-1 tie with Maryland and a 3-0 win over Rutgers. Wyatt Nelson was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week after recording a total of 10 saves in both games. Midfielder Tamir Ratoviz was conference freshman of the week after scoring the tying goal against Maryland.
"They are a very technical team," Yeagley said. "They have guys who are comfortable with the ball, and interchange well within their positions. They are very fluid and unpredictable. That's a tough thing. They ask tough questions of the opponent. They have some guys who can individually break you down. They have a lot of talent."
The cross-country travel and 10:30 p.m. kickoff time won't be problems, Yeagley says.
"A lot of it is in your head. You can push through it. It won't be the reason why we score or get scored on.
"We will acclimate the best we can and enjoy the experience. We're going out there to get three points.
"You say it's a business trip, but you can have fun at the same time. The business comes when we're between the lines. Outside of that, you can have a fun, joyous trip to L.A. That's the plan."
Players Mentioned
Defender
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Midfielder
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Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
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Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Forward
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