SPORTS
Indiana men’s soccer team opens the gap with 9 straight wins
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Also by CJ Keen:
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- Men's soccer tries to regroup against Hoosiers (October 11, 2001)
- Badgers fall to Indiana (March 29, 2004)
- Hoosiers get a reality check (October 29, 2002)
- Women's soccer opens at home (September 20, 2001)
- UW men's soccer won't let Marquette loss stop momentum (November 12, 2002)
by CJ Keen
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Once again, the Big Ten season is drawing to a close, and, once again, Indiana is leading the pack. The Hoosiers are No. 4 in the country with a record of 10-1-2 (5-0 Big Ten) losing only to St. John’s. After two ties and a loss in their first four matches of the season, the Hoosiers have gone 9-0 and are looking to finish the regular season strong.
Seniors Pat Noonan and Ryan Mack are in the top 10 of every statistical category in the Big Ten, and sophomore midfielder Ned Grabavoy was named to both the Soccer America and College Soccer News National Team of the Week on Oct. 7. Grabavoy was named as this week’s Big Ten offensive player of the week. The defensive award was given to his teammate, junior defender David Prall.
Indiana is still undefeated in the Big Ten with a conference record of 5-0. They defeated Northwestern 1-0 Sunday and recorded their seventh shutout of the year. Indiana played the contest without defender John Swann (who received his fifth yellow card during the game against Wisconsin) and injured defensive midfielder Danny O’Rourke.
The Hoosiers have not yet lost in conference play, but it hasn’t been an easy road. They handled Wisconsin and Michigan State without much trouble, but their wins over Penn State and Michigan were decided in overtime by scores of 2-1 and 1-0, respectively. The Hoosiers will try to finish the Big Ten season with a perfect conference record when they face Ohio State on Oct. 20 in Columbus.
No. 20 Penn State defeated Ohio State 1-0 in a critical game between the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the Big Ten, respectively. The only goal of the game was scored by sophomore forward Chad Severs, who is the Big Ten’s leader in points, with 20, on 9 goals and 2 assists. Penn State is 8-6-0 and 3-2-0 in the Big Ten.
Penn State handed Ohio State its first Big Ten loss and snapped the Buckeyes’ six-game winning streak. Earlier in the week, the Buckeyes’ sophomore goalkeeper Chad Brown had been named Big Ten defensive player of the week. Brown kept Michigan State’s relentless attack in check and held the Spartans to one goal in the Buckeyes 3-1 victory a week ago. The Buckeyes are 8-4-0 (2-1-0 Big Ten).
The Badgers are 1-2 in the Big Ten and 7-5 overall and have three regular-season Big Ten games left. Wisconsin senior forward and captain Valentine Anozie was named Big Ten offensive player of the week on Oct. 7 for his pair of assists in the Badgers’ 2-1 win over Penn State.
Anozie and the Badgers are hoping that they can turn around their losing Big Ten record and gain momentum heading into the Big Ten tournament. Sophomore forward Nick Van Sicklen is in the top 10 of every statistical category in the Big Ten except one.
Michigan State picked up a 2-1 victory over Michigan Sunday and improved to 8-4-0 and 2-2-0 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines are now 4-6-1 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten. Senior forward Brett Konley scored one of the goals in the game and leads the team with 18 points on 7 goals and 4 assists.
Michigan had a strong outing in a disappointing 2-1 overtime loss to Indiana. Sophomore forward Mychal Turpin got the young Michigan program’s first-ever goal against the Hoosiers. Turpin has 19 points, 1 assist, and is tied for the Big Ten lead in goals, with 9. Their next game will be at Wisconsin on Oct. 20. They are still looking for their first win in the Big Ten.
Northwestern is also looking for its first Big Ten win, and, along with Michigan, is one of the only two teams in the Big Ten with overall losing records. The Wildcats lost 1-0 to Indiana Sunday and dropped to 0-3 Big Ten and 5-7 overall.
