Aug. 18, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The two-time defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Indiana men's soccer team will open up the exhibition portion of the schedule on Friday against No. 4/9 UCLA. The two teams will battle in Fort Wayne, Ind., as part of the IPFW Soccer Showcase. Game time is set for 8 p.m. at Hefner Soccer Fields. The Bruins are ranked fourth in the College Soccer News preseason poll, while the adidas/NSCAA poll has them at No. 9. The Hoosiers hold down the top spot in both polls.

The sixth annual Showcase includes soccer from around the country at the collegiate, high school and youth levels. K&K Insurance is the presenting sponsor for the 2005 event.

Tickets for the event will be available on game day. Single-day admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children younger than 18. A three-day adult pass is $15 if bought before Aug. 14, $20 on game day. A three-day pass for children younger than 18 is $10.

The Hoosiers have played in the Showcase since its inception in 2000. In 10 exhibition games at the event, the Hoosiers are 5-1-4 with five shutouts. Last season, Indiana picked up a pair of victories, downing St. John's in a 2003 national title game rematch, 1-0, before downing IPFW, 2-0.

IU returns 15 letterwinners and eight starters from a season ago. In fact, six of those eight starters were also frontliners during the 2003 national title season. The last time Indiana and UCLA met on the field was in the quarterfinals of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers picked up a come-from-behind, 2-1, victory in Los Angeles. Six starters from that match remain on the Hoosier roster (Jed Zayner, Julian Dieterle, Brian Plotkin, Josh Tudela, John Michael Hayden and Jacob Peterson). Hayden scored his first career goal as a Hoosier to even the match in the first half, before Peterson picked up the game-winning assist.

The Bruins return 21 lettermen and seven starters from a 2004 squad that finished the year 14-4-2. UCLA won the 2004 Pac-10 title and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

IU junior forward Jacob Peterson and freshman forward Lee Nguyen will see some familiar faces on the other side of the pitch against the Bruins. UCLA sports a pair of players in junior defender Patrick Ianni and sophomore defender Marvell Wynne, who were teammates of Peterson and Nguyen on the United States Under-20 National team. The quartet helped the U.S. to the top spot in Group D and the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Holland.

Following their match in Fort Wayne, the Hoosiers will travel to Rome City, Ind. and Blue Chip USA for a training trip. Indiana will return to the field on Aug. 27 in Bloomington when they host Illinois-Chicago in its final exhibition tilt. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m.

IU opens the regular season by hosting a loaded field in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. The Hoosiers will welcome No. 10 SMU, No. 14 Wake Forest and No. 19 Notre Dame to Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium for the 23rd annual event. Indiana will take on Wake Forest on Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Notre Dame and SMU will open the Classic at 5 p.m. On Sept. 4, Wake Forest will take on Notre Dame at noon before the Hoosiers face SMU at 2 p.m.