March 26, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University men's soccer team will officially kick off its spring season this Friday night as it takes on Horizon League power UIC in a 7 p.m. match at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Admission is free. Note that the time has changed from the originally announced 7:30 p.m. start.

The two teams met last fall with IU picking up a 1-0 victory over the Flames in Bloomington on Oct. 3. Junior Brad Ring scored the game-winning goal for the Hoosiers with a shot from 25 yards out less than five minutes into the second half.

Head coach Mike Freitag and his staff have a busy spring ahead as they look to formulate their lineup for the 2008 season. The most pressing issue for IU is in the back as seniors Charley Traylor and Greg Stevning, as well as sophomore Ofori Sarkodie, have all moved on.

On the flip side, Indiana returns its top nine scorers from last year, led by Ring who earned second-team All-America honors with 16 points on five goals and six assists. Eric Alexander had five goals and an assist for 11 points in 2007, while unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman picks Rich Balchan and Daniel Kelly combined for eight goals and four assists. While the defensive line will be new, the Hoosiers have experience in goal with the return of All-Big Ten pick Chay Cain. Cain started all 22 games as a junior, allowing just 13 goals for a 0.61 goals-against average. In all IU returns 17 letterwinners from last year's team that finished 13-4-5 and won the Big Ten regular season title.

This is the first of four home spring matches for Indiana. Louisville comes to town on April 1 at 7 p.m., while 2007 College Cup participant Virginia Tech travels to Bloomington on April 19. The spring season culminates in the annual match with the Mexican Youth National Team as the U-20 squad visits Indiana on April 22 at 7 p.m.

While all spring matches are scheduled to be played at Armstrong Stadium, weather issues could force them to be canceled or moved to another venue on the IU campus. Check iuhoosiers.com for any location or time changes.

2008 Spring Schedule (as of March 26)
March 28- UIC- Bloomington, Ind.- 7 p.m.
April 1- LOUISVILLE- Bloomington, Ind- 7:30 p.m.
April 5- vs. Oakland/Michigan- Ponitac, Mich.- 9:10 a.m./12:55 p.m.
April 12- vs. Notre Dame- Ft. Wayne, Ind.- 7 p.m.
April 19- VIRGINIA TECH- Bloomington, Ind.- 7 p.m.
April 22- Mexican Youth National Team- Bloomington, Ind.- 7 p.m.