Hoosiers play poorly, still win

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The men's soccer team needed a penalty kick in the game's 20th minute Sunday to beat Ohio State in its final regular season Big Ten game.\nThe penalty kick, scored by senior forward Matt Fundenberger after junior midfielder Tyler Hawley was taken down in the penalty area, was all the scoring that took place at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, as IU won 1-0.\nCoach Jerry Yeagley said he'll take the victory, The Hoosiers' 10th consective, but he didn't like the way his Hoosiers played.\n"I thought both goalkeepers played very well," said Yeagley, whose team improved to 13-3 with the victory. "As far as field play goes, it was a choppy, scrappy game, and I thought they scrapped better than we did.\n"… There wasn't much of a midfield game (Sunday). There wasn't much possession by either team."\nThe lack of a possession played to the Buckeyes' advantage.\nWhile Ohio State plays aggressively and direct, IU plays a slower, possession-oriented attack. Against the Buckeyes, the Hoosiers were drawn away from their style of play.\nNot one of IU's center midfielders was able to mount much of an attack, and the Hoosiers often lost the ball once they did get an attack going. Several attacks ended because of long balls played in the air.\n"We played poorly," Fundenberger said. "We didn't keep possession of the ball at all. If we keep possession of the ball, we can beat any team.\n"But we're just kicking the ball up the field, running after it, hoping something happens. We need to keep better possession of the ball, and that'll create chances, coming from wide, coming through the middle."\nIU's most legitimate chances came from the middle against Ohio State. Sophomore midfielder Pat Noonan had several opportunities in the middle of the field, one of which was a 20-yard blast saved by Kerry Thompson. The Buckeye goalkeeper stopped a would-be goal by junior midfielder Ryan Mack, as well.\nThe Hoosiers had some solid goalkeeping of their own from junior Colin Rogers.\nRogers, starting his seventh straight game in place of the injured T.J. Hannig, recorded five saves in his fifth shutout of the season. He dominated the penalty area, often challenging attackers for balls served in the air.\nYeagley said Rogers has become a better goalkeeper since his first start three weeks ago.\n"We're getting more and more confidence in him," Yeagley said. "I think he's playing a more conservative approach to goalkeeping, whereas before he was a little more adventuresome and a little on the side of risk taking.\n"Even though there were some that maybe he could have come out on, he's not endangering us by overplaying the position, which was a bit of a problem early on."\nThe Hoosiers don't play again until Nov. 4 at the Cal-Berkeley Classic, and Hannig is expected to return that weekend.\nIU's first match of the classic is against Stanford, who's ranked as high as second in national polls. The Hoosiers know that a victory in that game might mean playing better than they did Sunday.\n"I think next time we play we have to play a lot harder and show what we're really capable of doing," junior defender Ryan Hammer said. "(Sunday) I think we came out there and a lot of guys weren't focused mentally, and it showed.\n"So next time, we definitely need to come out there focused right from the start and lay down the tone and show them how we're going to play -- not play their style of game, play ours"