Men's soccer team pulls Washington upset, falls to Portland

For the second consecutive weekend, the men's soccer team split a pair of matches, this time in the Portland adidas Classic.\nBoth matches ended 1-0, continuing the Hoosier trend of strong defense, and a nagging inability to put the ball in the back of the net. IU was on the winning end of the score in the first game against No. 2 Washington, and then fell to Portland in the Classic's final game.\nIU 1 Washington 0\nJunior Pat Noonan's goal midway through the second half ended a scoreless defensive standoff, and gave the Hoosiers the win to open the Classic Saturday.\nIU looked to get on the board early when Washington goalkeeper and junior Chad Olsen was issued a yellow card for dangerous play, giving IU a penalty kick. Noonan took the kick, but failed to convert, as the ball bounced off the right goalpost. That would be as close as the Hoosiers would get the rest of the half, as they went into halftime tied, 0-0.\nJust under 20 minutes into the second half, Noonan took the opportunity to make amends for his earlier miss. Senior right midfielder Bobby de St. Aubin started the attack with a pass to junior Michael Bock. Bock relayed the ball to Noonan, who again went to the right side of the goal. This time the ball found the upper right corner, Noonan found redemption, and IU found a way to win.\n"This is a big win for the Hoosiers," coach Jerry Yeagley said. "We were able to create the offensive opportunities necessary to win."\nAs usual, the Hoosier defense was solid, giving IU its second shutout in its first three games. Senior goalkeeper Colin Rogers posted six saves for the match.\n"We feel we have one of the best defenses in the nation and we have high standards for each and every game we play," junior back John Swann said.\n"I can't say enough about our defenders," Yeagley said. "We withstood a lot of defensive restarts today. Direct kicks, throw-ins, corner kicks -- those are Washington's strengths, and we were able to keep them out of the goal."\n"(Sophomore midfielder) Vijay (Dias) was the player of the match in my opinion on both the defensive and the offensive side of the ball. He stepped up big time."\nPortland 1 IU 0 \nIU came into the game hoping to become the first team other than Washington or Portland to ever win the Classic in the tournament's 11-year history. They left the game wondering if they would ever find an answer to their lack of offensive production. \nPortland set the tone early, getting a goal in the first two minutes of the game when sophomore forward Nate Jagua found senior forward Brandon Henley with a short cross into the box. The ball bounced around a few times, and found its way past Rogers for the only goal of the afternoon.\nThe Hoosiers dominated possession for the rest of the game, but could not crack the stingy Portland defense. Noonan failed to cash in on three shots, with his best opportunity coming 10 minutes into the contest when the Portland keeper made a difficult save to preserve the lead.\n"Portland was very organized defensively," Dias said. "We had a tough time getting through and couldn't finish our chances. We need to find a way to score."\nAs in the first game, the IU defense kept the Hoosiers within striking distance the entire game, holding Portland scoreless for the final 88 minutes.\n"Defensively we played pretty well the entire weekend," Rogers said. "The goal was their only opportunity of the match, and it just took a couple unlucky bounces."\nYeagley said he was concerned with the offensive finishing, but was also pleased with some other areas.\n"Overall, I thought we were the better team of the contest," Yeagley said. "We controlled the whole second half but with the offensive troubles we have been having, we still continue to have difficulty scoring. Other than the score though, I thought we did some very nice things"