Oct. 16, 2009

No. 23 Indiana vs. Michigan State- Match Notes

NO. 23/23 INDIANA (7-4-1, 2-0) vs. MICHIGAN STATE (6-4-1, 0-3)

October 18, 2009 • 2:00 p.m. ET
Jerry Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium
Bloomington, Ind.

All-Time Series: Indiana leads, 34-3-2
Last Meeting: Michigan State won, 1-0, on Nov. 16, 2008
Last Meeting in Bloomington: Indiana won, 2-0, on Oct. 6, 2007

Television: Big Ten Network
Kenn Tomasch: Play-by-Play
Richard Broad: Color
Chris Doran: Sideline

SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana looks to remain perfect in Big Ten play as the Hoosiers play host to defending Big Ten Champion Michigan State on Sunday.
• The Hoosiers are looking to snap a two-game slide against the Spartans, with both losses coming last season.
• Indiana rides a two-game win streak into the match with victories at Michigan and at No. 22 Notre Dame.
• The match will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.

NEWS AND NOTES
• The Hoosiers extended their shutout streak to 180 minutes with a 3-0 win at No. 22 Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
• Darren Yeagle and Will Bruin scored for the Hoosiers, but the game winner came in the 66th minute courtesy of an own goal by the Fighting Irish.
• Bruin's goal gives him a team-best six this season.
• Bruin leads the team in scoring with 15 points (6g, 3a).
• Yeagle was his second this season, and second in the last three games.
• Freshman goalkeeper Luis Soffner recorded his sixth shutout of the season in the win at ND.
• Indiana is the only unbeaten and untied team in Big Ten play after a 1-0 win at Michigan on Oct. 10.
• Andy Adlard scored the game-winning goal at Michigan on Oct. 10 in the 54th minute, his fourth goal of the season and the second game winner.
• Indiana is the only team to beat Michigan on its home field this season.
• Three of Adlard's four goals this year have come when he plays off the bench.
• Soffner has yet to allow a goal in Big Ten play after posting shutouts at Wisconsin and at Michigan.
• Yeagle's goal against Butler on Oct. 7 was his first since his freshman season in 2006. He had seven goals that year and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
• Bruin has scored at least one point in seven of 12 matches.
• Indiana is 2-3-1 against top-25 teams this season.
• The Hoosiers are 1-1-1 in overtime games this year.
• IU is 3-0 when scoring three or more goals with wins over New Mexico (3-2), Kentucky (3-0) and Notre Dame (3-0).
• Earning the start in the second half against UK, redshirt freshman Nick Blevins saw his first career shot result in a goal.
• The Hoosiers improved to 16-0-3 in Big Ten openers with a 1-0 win at Wisconsin on Sept. 25.
• Sophomore Tommy Meyer recorded his first career point with an assist on Bruin's goal against the Badgers.
• Soffner recorded a shutout in his first career Big Ten match with the 1-0 blanking of Wisconsin.
• Eric Alexander has the best percentage of on-frame attempts (5 or more) with 10 of his 19 shots this season on goal (53 percent).
• Indiana is averaging 13.5 shots per game, 1.42 goals per game and 5.9 shots on-goal per game.
• In tournament play this year, Indiana won the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament (2-0), finished second at the University of Akron Tournament (1-1) and third at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic (0-1-1).
• A total of 3,920 fans were on hand for the season opener against St. John's on Sept. 4, a game which ended in a 0-0 double overtime tie.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• Michigan State is 6-4-1 on the season, most recently dropping a 2-1 decision in double overtime at Wisconsin on Oct. 11. The Spartans are still looking for their first Big Ten victory at 0-3.
• Rubin Bega leads the offensive attach with 11 goals and 2 assists for 16 points. Jeff Ricondo has a team-best four assists to go along with three goals.
• Goalkeeper Avery Steinlage has appeared in all 11 matches, allowing six goals in 1004:05 minutes for a 0.54 GAA. He has posted five shutouts on the season.
• MSU is outscoring its opponents, 17-7, and holds a 121-100 shot advantage. Eleven of Michigan State's 17 goals have come in the first half of play.
• The Spartans have scored just one goal in three Big Ten matches.
• Head coach Damon Rensing is in his first season at the helm of the Michigan State program. He is assisted by Kylie Stannard, Joe Baum and John McElroy.

SERIES HISTORY
 • Indiana leads the all-time series, 34-3-2.
• The Hoosiers are 3-2-1 in the last six meetings, including a 1-0 win in East Lansing in the semifinals of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament, and a 2-0 win during the 2007 regular season..
• Indiana's only losses in the series came in 2004 (2-1 defeat in Big Ten Tournament play) and 2008 (2-0 in regular season, 1-0 in the Big Ten Tournament title match).
• Michigan State has managed just four goals over the last six meetings and has never scored more than two goals on the Hoosiers (4-2 loss in 1983, 2-1 win in 2004, 2-0 win in 2008).
• Indiana has shut out the Spartans 27 times in 39 meetings, including two of the last four meetings.

DID YOU KNOW?
• Andy Adlard's two goals against No. 13 Kentucky marked his first career multiple-goal game.
• It was the first multiple-goal game by a Hoosier since Will Bruin had a pair of goals in a 3-2 OT win at Evansville on Sept. 30, 2008.
• Three of Adlard's four goals this season have come when he plays off the bench. And two of the four have been game winners.
• Seven of Adlard's 11 career goals have been game winners.
• Seven of Indiana's 12 matches have been one-goal affairs. IU is 4-3 in those games.
• Fifteen of Indiana's 17 goals this season have come after the halftime break
• Three of Indiana's 17 goals have come off set pieces.
• Both of Indiana's goals in Big Ten play have come between the 53rd minute and 57th minute.
• Sophomore Tommy Meyer and his father, Keith Meyer, are the first father-son combination to play soccer at Indiana. Meyer played for the Hoosiers in 1980 and 1982-84, winning NCAA titles in 1982 and 1983.
• Indiana played its 100th Big Ten regular season match on Sept. 25, a 1-0 win at Wisconsin. The Hoosiers have won 85 percent (82-10-9) of their Big Ten regular season matches.

NOTRE DAME RECAP
• The No. 23 Indiana men's soccer team took advantage of three second half goals to pick up a 3-0 win on the road at Notre Dame Wednesday night at Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
• The Hoosiers' first goal came thanks to a Notre Dame miscue. With 25 minutes remaining, Will Bruin was fouled just outside the top of the box, setting up a free kick in prime territory for the Hoosiers. While Andy Adlard's shot went off the wall, the ball stayed in the Notre Dame half of the field and a failed clearance by the Fighting Irish's Bilal Duckett sent the ball just inside the right side of the net for an own goal and a 1-0 Indiana lead at 65:23.
• The Hoosiers had an opportunity to add to their lead in the 69th minute when a header from Darren Yeagle was cleared off the line by a Notre Dame defender. The play began with a shot from Bruin that bounded off a Notre Dame player and ended up across the goalmouth for Yeagle.
• Yeagle had another on-goal opportunity and took full advantage for his second goal of the season and a 2-0 IU lead at 78:21. Notre Dame tried to play the ball back to goalkeeper Andrew Quinn, but Quinn was unable to get up to the ball in time and Yeagle popped a shot over Quinn and both teams watched the ball slowly roll into the net.
• Bruin joined in on the scoring with his team-leading seventh goal of the season at 82:37. Bruin pounced on a Notre Dame turnover in the midfield and ran right past his marking defender. Quinn came out to try and cut off Bruin's angle, but the freshman forward simply shot it around the keeper to give IU a 3-0 lead.
• The teams finished even in shots, 9-9, with Yeagle taking four of the Hoosiers' nine shots. Bruin added three. It was a clean match on the field with just 10 combined fouls called.
• Notre Dame had a few looks early in the second half, including Luis Soffner's diving save to his right to stop a header from Michael Thomas in the 51st minute.
• Yeagle took the first shot of the match for IU at 10:16, hitting it hard from seven yards out and forcing Quinn to make a leaping punch out of the ball. Just over a minute later Rich Balchan took a chance at the net, with Quinn bobbling the save. Bruin was ready to pounce on the ball but Quinn recovered in time to keep the Hoosiers off the board.
• Indiana was fortunate when a header for Notre Dame's Bright Dike sailed high after Dike was left alone in the front of the net. With 6:36 to go in the first half, Dike was called for a foul on Tommy Meyer which resulted in a yellow card. Meyer was down briefly after the tangle but came back on when play resumed.
• The Hoosiers went nearly 30 minutes without a shot, getting their third look of the match at 40:40 when Alec Purdie toe poked the ball wide left.

RANKING THE HOOSIERS
• Indiana ranks among the top 25 in all five polls.
• College Soccer News dropped the Hoosiers eight spots to No. 19.
• Soccer America moved IU down eight spots to No. 23.
• The Hoosiers went down nine spots to No. 23 in the NSCAA poll.
• Soccer Times moved the Hoosiers down three spots to No. 17.
• Indiana is down four spots in the TopDrawerSoccer men's tournament 48 ranking to No. 16.
• Four Big Ten teams are in the Soccer America top 25 this week with No. 9 Northwestern,  No. 15 Ohio State, No. 23 Indiana, and No. 24 Penn State.
• Three Big Ten teams grace the NSCAA top 25 with Northwestern No. 16, Indiana No. 23 and Penn State No. 24.

BIG TEN DOMINATION
• Since the Big Ten began sponsoring men's soccer in 1991, the Hoosier have dominated the league.
• The Hoosiers are 82-10-9 in regular season matches, tallying nearly 30 more victories than second-place team Penn State (54).
• Indiana has never lost in its Big Ten opener, going 16-0-3 in those matches.
• IU has won 11 Big Ten tournament titles, sharing the 1995 crown with Wisconsin.
• Indiana has also been crowned regular season champion 13 times, including nine-straight seasons from 1996-2004. IU won back-to-back regular season titles in 2006 and 2007.
• Indiana has been the league's goals-against average leader in 15 of 18 seasons, including 2007 when the Hoosiers allowed just two goals in six matches for a 0.31 GAA.
• IU had a league-record 10 Big Ten Players of the Year, including two of the last four seasons.
• The Hoosiers have also boasted the Freshman of the Year three of the last four years, with Will Bruin taking the award in 2008.

INDIANA IN THE BIG TEN
• Here is where the Hoosiers sit in the latest Big Ten rankings:
INDIVIDUAL
Shots:
4. Will Bruin - 42
Points:
T-7. Will Bruin - 15
T-10. Andy Adlard - 10
Goals
T-5. Will Bruin - 6
T-10. Andy Adlard - 4
Game-Winning Goals
T-1. Will Bruin - 3
Goals-Against Average
4. Luis Soffner - 0.88
Shutouts
2. Luis Soffner - 6

TEAM
Shots
5. Indiana- 162
Goals
T-4. Indiana- 17
Assists
T-5. Indiana- 14
Goals Allowed
4. Indiana- 11
Saves
6. Indiana- 39
Goals-Against Average
4. Indiana- 0.88
Shutouts
T-2. Indiana- 6
Fouls
7. Indiana- 94