Junior transfer adjusts to new role

As Josh Rife played soccer at Bill Armstrong Stadium on a Friday night, his friends from Texas Christian University lined the stands with a banner that read "TCU is Pro-Rife."\nRife, a junior, transferred from TCU to IU after his sophomore year, leaving behind a mediocre soccer program for a national powerhouse. He also left his family and, of course, his friends. For the Hoosiers' home games against Wisconsin and Northwestern in October, his friends surprised him by driving from Texas to Bloomington.\nJust as surprising as his friends' appearance last month has been Rife's adjustment to the IU men's soccer team. Thursday, he was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and coach Jerry Yeagley expects the junior who had to adjust to a new playing position to be one of IU's leaders in the post-season.\n"Josh has been a big part of the defensive success this year," Yeagley said. "He's gone from a position of big question mark -- was he the right guy? -- to now a position of strength, where I really feel he's been one of the primary reasons we've gotten ourselves into contention for postseason play."\nRife was a defensive midfielder for TCU, but he was asked to fill in at sweeper for the Hoosiers. The job change didn't immediately yield success.\nIn his first game at IU, a season opening 3-0 loss to Portland, Rife struggled. At one point, he failed to clear a ball from the defensive third and gave the ball to a Portland player who scored. \nRife's starting role was challenged by freshman Matt Ahumada, who replaced Rife in the second half of IU's 4-1 loss to Creighton Sept. 15. Ahumada started the next game in place of Rife, but left the game because of a knee injury.\n"When Josh went back in, it was like a different player," Yeagley said. "It was a different Josh. And from that time on, he's just been getting better and better. He hasn't had a bad game since that time."\nSince then, Rife has started every game as sweeper and has stabilized a defense that has allowed only six goals in its last 12 games. Rife said the Creighton loss -- IU's worst defeat in 11 years -- was more of a wake-up call to the entire team than to himself.\nBut his teammates and coach see it differently.\n"A lot of times he was caught giving up balls," senior defensive midfielder Justin Tauber said. "Now he's playing on the side of safety. When the possession game's not on, he'd move the ball on to (sophomore midfielder Pat) Noonan or I. Now he just bypasses us. He played the ball right to us; now he's looking to see that there aren't guys on us."\nYeagley said Rife improved on his ability to be in the right place at the right time. If an opponent gets past an IU marking back, Rife is certain to clear the ball. He often successfully takes an opponent on one-on-one or heads a ball out of danger, Yeagley said.\n"He's got a bounce in his step back there, whereas before he was almost trembling back there and worried and not feeling comfortable," Yeagley said. "He's directing much better. He's back there as a pillar of strength."\nRife gained that strength while learning a different position at TCU. A defensive midfielder has more freedom with the ball. He can dribble with the ball more and get in on the offense more than a sweeper, who defends the field between the marking backs and the goalkeeper.\n"It's a little bit more reserved position," Rife said. "I can't always follow my first instinct to the ball -- to want to put a couple touches on the ball or whatever. Everything's just got to be. Fortunately or unfortunately, I can't necessarily have a bad game. I can't play as well some days as others, but I have to be mentally sharp to go every game."\nRife credits his improvement to his coaches' confidence in him and the support of his teammates. He said he decided to transfer to IU because he thinks its national championship program will help him fulfill his goal to turn professional after college.\nRife replaces All-American Nick Garcia, who skipped his senior year to turn professional. Ahumada and freshman Kellen Kalso were recovering from injuries, so Yeagley selected Rife as sweeper. \n"A lot of people compared his role to Nicky Garcia's and he had a lot of pressure coming in," Justin Tauber said. "It was kind of unfair comparing him to Nicky with the success he's had that year. The main thing is just his getting confidence back there."\nRife has his first chance to play in a postseason, as the Hoosiers prepare for their 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. The Hoosiers will automatically qualify if they win the Big Ten tournament this weekend. \nAlthough Yeagley said early in the season freshmen would need to lead a team that lost five starters from last year's NCAA champion team, sophomores and transfers such as Rife have instead stepped in to guide the Hoosiers.\n"I haven't played in a post-season yet, and I think at the beginning of the season every team has the goal to play in the postseason," Rife said. "It's part of the change coming here to Indiana -- the chance to play in the postseason, and I'm looking forward to it a lot"