Defensive midfielders provide basis for Hoosier attack

Men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley said earlier this season that scouting reports on IU probably said one thing: stop midfielders Ryan Mack, a junior, and Pat Noonan, a sophomore, and you'll stop IU.\nWhile such reports might bear some truth, they fail to mention the rest of IU's midfield -- which may be the most important part.\nBehind Mack and Noonan are two midfielders whose jobs are far less dazzling.\nThey are Justin Tauber and Phil Presser, and they are IU's defensive center midfielders.\nTauber, a senior, has been a defensive midfielder all season. Presser, a sophomore, started the season as an outside midfielder but moved to the middle to provide more defense and control.\nThe Hoosiers now play with Noonan as the sole attacking midfielder and Mack as a forward.\n"That was our whole game plan, to get more defense back there and let Noonan and Mack basically just float up top," Presser said. "Noonan's basically a third forward. He comes back and helps us out, but we wanted two more defensive mids back there.\n"And it's nice for Taubs and I, because we can both stand back and get the ball and then dribble and play attacking mid also. It's easy to distribute the ball back there with two of us."\nThroughout the season, Tauber and Presser have ignited the IU attack. Both serve as a link between IU's defense and its forwards.\nBut neither player started his career in a defensive role.\nIn fact, Tauber and Presser both came to IU after high school careers as go-to players. Tauber scored 33 goals in his senior season, and Presser led his team to two consecutive state championships in his final two seasons.\nThe switch to a defensive role didn't bother Tauber; it meant more playing time.\n"It was a big adjustment at first," Tauber said. "I was scoring all the goals and really not playing any defense in high school; I was a forward. Coming here was kind of a rude awakening as far as how much you have to defend in the game of soccer.\n"Over the last four years, I've just got a lot more confident defensively, working on it every day. It's been a big adjustment, but I had to adjust if I was going to see the field. So I adjusted."\n As did Presser, in more ways than one.\nPresser changed his position, his role on the team and his style of play this season.\nLast season, he came off the bench and saw time as an outside midfielder. He played a limited role because the Hoosiers were loaded with talent. He also played without much fight.\n "The big change with Phil is last year when he went up for a headball, most of the time he'd end up on the ground," Yeagley said. "Now he's getting up and winning them. He's much stronger. He's able to impact the game not just through his skill.\n "He's a smart player, but he had to avoid tussles last year. He didn't get into tussles very much. Now he can get in and win balls and be a ball-winner as well as a skillful player."\nPresser said he thinks his skill is best utilized in the middle.\n"I'm a lot more happy," he said. "I mean, that's where I played my whole life. I got a feel for the game again. When I was out wide, I only had one lane to go to basically.\n"Now I've got every way: Forward, back. Left, right"