Hoosiers stand alone atop Big Ten

The men's soccer team finds itself in familiar territory midway though its Big Ten schedule.\nThe Hoosiers, riding a 35-game unbeaten streak in conference play, lead the conference with a 3-0 record. Following IU are Penn State (3-1 in conference play), Ohio State (1-1-1), Michigan State (1-1-1), Wisconsin (1-1), Michigan (0-2) and Northwestern (0-3).\nShould the Hoosiers win their games against Wisconsin and Northwestern this weekend, they'd be in position to claim the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. IU plays Ohio State after this weekend, and the Buckeyes already have a loss and a tie, so a loss to Ohio State would still leave the Hoosiers atop the Big Ten.\n"It's huge," junior forward Ryan Mack said. "I think that's probably one of the biggest first steps to winning another national championship. I think that if we get set up good for Big Tens and win Big Tens, we'll have a good shot at winning the national championship again."\nMichigan's welcome party\nMichigan played IU Sunday in only its second Big Ten game. The Wolverines took Penn State to overtime before losing 2-1 earlier this season, but were dominated by IU.\nBut, coach Jerry Yeagley said he doesn't think the Wolverines are as bad as the 7-0 score indicated.\n"They've had some good wins, and they can still make some noise in the Big Ten," he said. "They've got some more Big Ten games, and I wouldn't be surprised in the regular season and maybe in the tournament if they make some noise.\n"For a first-year program, I think a 7-0 score is not an indication of the difference in the programs. They're a lot better than the score indicates."\nClimbing the polls\nIU continued to move up the national collegiate soccer polls with its two victories this past weekend.\nThe Hoosiers moved up three spots in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, where they're now ranked second. The internetsoccer.com media poll ranks IU fifth, and both soccertimes.com and Soccer America rank the Hoosiers eighth.\nDominant defense\nYeagley said before this season started that defense was a question mark for the Hoosiers.\nIU allowed 11 goals in its first six games, and, against Creighton, the Hoosiers gave up four goals in a game for the first time in more than a decade.\nThat question mark has since faded.\nThe Hoosiers have gone 6-0 and allowed only two goals in their past six games, and both goals came in a 3-2 victory over Penn State, which was junior goalkeeper Colin Rogers' first career start.\nRogers isn't the only newcomer in IU's defensive third.\nJunior marking back John Swann had the most experience of any IU defender entering this season -- five starts. Freshman David Prall, IU's other starting marking back, said things have been clicking lately.\n"Swann and (junior Josh) Rife have been helping me out, talking to me," Prall said. "It's been getting easier lately, a lot easier. We're getting more confidence back there"