The thing I notice about Indiana in the last few years is that they are athletic,but they lack the mix of creativity that the great Indiana teams had. This team is going in that direction again. I thought Kotlov, Corrada and Zafeiretas were the type of players that could give them this element but they look they are being phased out. Who in the midfield can break down a team? Just an observation.
I followed the game on Gametracker last pm and my son ( who goes to IU ) was at the game.....he said we dominated possession for most of the first half and first part of the second half. Shots were 5-4 U of L in the first half, and 5-2 IU in the second half until we subbed at 67 minutes ( Wise and Corrado in) and at 70 minutes ( Kotlov in) .....then U of L had 4 shots on goal in 3+ minutes, scoring on the first 2........coincidence?? I think our boys and coaching staff thought we had this one in the bag.....hopefully this team can find a killer instinct as the season progresses, or it's going to be one and done in the NCAA's.
Coincidence? IMO, no. Corrado decided not to play defense and was about 5 yds behind his man as the cardinal headed a cross back to the 6, where another card easily slipped it past Sofner. UoL had about given up before that goal. They were ready for the long bus ride home. Reinvigorated after the goal, UoL took charge of the rest of the game. Needless and very big loss. BRF
If IU plays the way they did for 70 of the 90 minutes last night, they'll be in for a great deal of success and a serious contender for a deep/long post season run. If they play like they did the last 20 (and don't get more from their 3 or 4 subs they are currently using), they will have problems with talented teams such as Creighton/Ohio St/ect...and I would think it would be a short ncaa run for them. They are very close to turning the corner, but learning to kill off teams with the talent/experience of the top teams in the nation (and Louisville is certainly one of the top 4 or 5 teams talent wise in the country) isn't gonna be easy.
Went to the IU- Creighton game today. The first half was fairly even, with Creighton building up the play better than we did and scoring on their one true opportunity when a winger got past McCain and distributed in the box to a forward who scored.....however, we had 3 excellent chances, one where Petts had the ball with a step on the defender and was tackled in the box with no call, one where Purdie received a beautiful ball on the run and the goalie made a great save, and one where Zavaleta wound up with the ball on the side of the goal at 6 ft and could not control it enough to put it past the goal. The second half, Creighton dominated possession and the shots, and quite frankly should have scored 2. We played longball for the last 25 minutes of the half and got one decent chance that the goalie saved. Creighton is a legit team with a very good goalie ( looked about as big as Shey Cain out there) and can build it up well or play counter when dictated. We resorted to playing IU soccer of the last few years as the game went along ( longball/no buildup) and paid for it. We had enough time in the second half to continue to play the way we did in the first half, where we built up well on occasion, but did not. Our ball control skills were lacking today against a well coached and opportunistic team who time and time again beat us to the ball or outright stole it. Schedule this week doesn't get any easier, with games away at Butler and Michigan. Gotta find a way to win, gentlemen..........
i was planning on going down yesterday, but we didn't make it. i will be at butler wednesday. i hope they can get back on track.
Very good summary. It seems to me that we only have two approaches to scoring. We either try to dribble the ball into the goal or try our long throw-ins to the box. Problem w/ the first is that it's impossible and we really need to shoot from 25 when the D backs in. Problem with the second is that we are very poor (as opposed to abysmal) in the air. This was especially the case against Creighton, which had some pretty big midfielders and defenders. BRF
The Hoosier broke their losing streak tonight versus Butler. Eriq Zavaleta scored the games only goal in the 85th minute. The Hoosier failed to really force their game on a lesser opponent tonight.
Well put. Beautiful night, nasty (turf) field. We kept passing the ball to Butler and they kept kicking it into touch. Ugly, ugly, but we won. We are still very, very poor in the air. BRF
and the butler bowl sucks for watching soccer. i was at midfield halfway up the stand, and i couldn't see the near sideline or the nearest 5 yards of the field. forget about seeing anything down in those corners.
Yep, soccer in the Bowl was an afterthought (as the three sets of lines show). I ended up sitting behind the south goal. That's where I saw us pass to them and them kick it out. Surprised you didn't have one or two land in your lap!
the hoosiers beat michigan 4-1 on saturday and face kentucky tonight. a stream will be available on iu's website.
iu beat kentucky 2-0. the stream sucked so i didn't watch it. i listened to the audio, and it sounded like it was a rainy mess of a game. zavaleta scored on a penalty early in the second half, and kotlov had a golazo from 25 yards out with 15ish to go.
Where is the official announcement? I have heard lots of rumors but have yet to see anything from USSF.
The way I see it, it is a 1-year type of gig. You are hired to qualify a team and (hopefully) win a medal at the Games. Wouldn't really have an responsibilities again until 2016.