Freshman Lee Hagedorn celebrates scoring his first career goal against Wisconsin. |
Indiana Claims Big Ten Regular Season Title with 1-0 Win
Oct. 27, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Freshman Lee Hagedorn scored his first career goal in the 78th minute to give the No. 20 Indiana Hoosiers a 1-0 victory over Wisconsin to win the Big Ten regular season title on Oct. 27.
With the win, the Hoosiers receive a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, held Nov. 2-5 on the campus of Ohio State.
"I am very proud of this team, they played 90 minutes of good soccer," head coach Mike Freitag said. "This is a new team, a young team. Our seniors have stepped up and been great leaders, and showed the younger guys what IU soccer is all about.
"The Big Ten is tough. Every game, whether you play the first-place team or the last-place team, is going to be a battle. Wisconsin is a good team, and we knew they were going to be tough coming in. I could tell in the locker room that our guys were ready to play. We're happy to have the first-round bye in the tournament. It is a big advantage when you only have to play two games to win the tournament instead of three."
After the ball was kicked out of bounds parallel to the top of the penalty box, sophomore Brad Ring heaved a long throw inside the box to Brian Ackley. Ackley kicked it backward to Hagedorn, who blasted a shot past Wisconsin goalkeeper Jake Settle for the score.
For the final 12 minutes, Indiana (12-4-2, 4-1-1 Big Ten) continued to showcase its defense, keeping Wisconsin (9-7-2, 3-2-1 Big Ten) from getting many quality chances. Goalkeeper Chay Cain only needed one save on the night to secure his sixth shutout of the season.
The Hoosiers held solid possession of the ball for a good portion of the evening. Numerous players had shots blocked or that were just wide of the goal. Indiana outshot Wisconsin 14-6 on the night.
Wisconsin came into the game with a conference-high nine shutouts, while Settle led the Big Ten in goals against average (0.74). He had four saves on the night.
Before the game, Indiana recognized its senior class, consisting of Tudela, John Michael Hayden, Julian Dieterle and Kevin Robson.
The Hoosiers' next game will be in the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, Nov. 3. Indiana will play the winner of the game between the No. 4/5 seed. Seedings will be determined following this weekend's Big Ten contests. Penn State plays at Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 28, while Michigan State takes on Ohio State on Sunday, Oct. 29.
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