Coach finds final four trip difficult, but rewarding

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- In late October, Jerry Yeagley chuckled as he talked on the telephone with a fellow men's soccer coach about the Hoosiers' top-four position in the national polls. Yeagley thought his team was "overrated."\nHe was right.\nIn the next three weeks, the Hoosiers ended the regular season with a three-game losing streak. Yeagley watched the announcement of the NCAA tournament bracket from Assembly Hall while his athletes tuned in from home, doubting the Hoosiers would qualify for the postseason.\nBut they did get an invitation to the NCAAs, and Saturday afternoon the unseeded Hoosiers escaped from the tournament's toughest bracket to make it to their fourth consecutive final four, the longest streak in school history.\nAt a post-game press conference, Yeagley beamed with cheeks reddened from cold weather after IU's 1-0 upset of top-seeded North Carolina. In perhaps their most unlikely run to the College Cup, the Hoosiers had to win all three NCAA games on the road, adjust to injuries and find leadership on a team that had lost half its starters from last year's championship squad.\n"I'm very proud of our team because I don't think anybody gave the Hoosiers much of a chance at the start of the season after we dropped our first two games and when we got into the tournament and saw the bracket," Yeagley said. "I think 11 of the last 20 days we've been on the road, and it takes a lot for a team to win under those circumstances."\nThe 2000 road to the final four has been one of the toughest and most rewarding, Yeagley said. The Hoosiers sneaked past the nation's only undefeated team (San Jose State), the Pacific-10 champion (Washington) and the No. 1 Tar Heels to reach the College Cup.\nThis season, Yeagley had to replace five starters who graduated or went pro from IU's 1999 champion team. He also had to adjust the lineup to cope with injuries throughout the season.\nSuch injuries added to the adversity that made the 2000 campaign to the College Cup so gratifying, senior midfielder Justin Tauber said. He gets to go to his fourth final four in four years.\n"They're all satisfying, but this might be more satisfying because no one expected us to be here," said Tauber, a tri-captain. "After losing three games in a row at the end of the season, we didn't know if we were going to make the tournament. We were fortunate to get in."\nBut the Hoosiers are more than a team that's hit a recent streak of fortune, North Carolina coach Elmar Bolowich said.\n"They proved to be the team we expected them to be -- battle proven, on-the-road tough," Bolowich said. "I give them credit. They created their own luck, and for them to keep us scoreless, that's just a fantastic feat to do because no other team has done it all season long."\nEvery IU men's soccer team has reached the final four the year after a national championship. The Hoosiers will attempt a run at a third consecutive national championship with a semi-final match against Creighton at 5 p.m. Friday in Charlotte, N.C. IU lost to the Bluejays 4-1 Sept. 15 in Indianapolis. The winner of the game would play the victor of the Connecticut-Southern Methodist match for the championship at 1 p.m. Sunday. \nThe Hoosiers have the most losses (six) of the final four teams. With that many losses, Tauber had doubted his team would reach any NCAA tournament game, let alone Charlotte. He had contrasting feelings Saturday to those he felt three weeks ago, when the Hoosiers lost their first Big Ten game in 39 matches to end the regular season.\nSaturday, he had another winning streak to think about -- the 13 consecutive games IU has won in NCAA tournament play.\n"I don't know what this team is all about," Tauber said. "It's just that we come together, and defense wins championships. When we saw the draw, there was no doubt we could make it back to the final four. That's been our motto all year. Fortunately for us, we're back there again. It's a great feeling"