Aggressive play sets tone

Five fouls in a NCAA basketball game will get a player ejected. Committing a penalty in a hockey game will relegate a player to the penalty box. Offensive holding in a football game will push a player back ten yards. Most coaches will preach the avoidance of such blunders. Don't tell that to the women's soccer coach, Mick Lyon.\nLyon has been preaching to his team the importance of physical play to compete in the Big Ten. The stat that Lyon looks most closely at when analyzing the aggressiveness of his team is the amount of fouls they commit, and how many corner kicks they are awarded. Lyon said he wants his team to take more corner kicks than its opponent because a corner kick, or any set play for that matter, is more likely to net a goal, and it rewards effort and hustle. Lyon also said fouls show a team's determination.\n"When you battle, teams step off because they realize they can't win by brute force," Lyon said. "What an opponent presents against us physically, we like to match."\nSophomore midfielder Kim Grodek said the team listens to the coaching staff about the importance of being physical and aggressive.\n"In every game we play, especially in the Big Ten, it's an aggressive game," Grodek said. "Playing tough gives us a name, and when people play us they know they're going to have to play differently to get past us."\nCommitting a foul isn't always wise, such as in the goalkeepers area, which results in a penalty shot. A foul that is too aggressive or delivered with malicious intent can land a player a yellow card as a warning, or a red card for immediate ejection. The team does not preach such ignorant fouls.\n"Soccer is a contact sport," Lyon said. "It is a physical game. If you receive a card for being tough that is acceptable, but we have rules against receiving a card for talking or fighting because that shows a lack of discipline."\nGrodek said the team understands there are appropriate times to play hard and aggressive, and other times you have to be more careful. \n"It's okay for us to commit a foul, as long as it is in the right area or right time of the game," Grodek said.\nFreshman forward Robin Barker said winning corners and committing a foul are signs of playing harder than your opponent. \n"Fouls and corners mean that you're going after every single ball, and you need to do that to win games" Barker said.\nLyon does not usually pay attention to the corner or foul stats during a game because he said those are numbers that usually speak for themselves after the game and prove the team's effort. The players follow the same philosophy as their coach.\nGrodek said she does not look at the scoreboard during the game to see how the team is doing in those stats, she just knows if the team is playing hard or not. Barker said the team knows when they are doing these things by their effort on the field. \n"If you play hard and give your all, you will win these stats," Barker said.\nAn aggressive style of play has lead the Hoosiers to the No. 8 rank in the Great Lakes Region by Soccer Buzz magazine. The Hoosiers have out-cornered their opponents 41-33 this year, and have committed 14 more penalties than the opposition. These stats have helped elevate the team to a four game unbeaten streak, and third place in the Big Ten. In a testament to their aggressive, yet clean play, Hoosier opponents have received five penalty cards this year, while the Hoosiers have received four penalty cards.\nLyon said he doesn't usually go into the lockeroom at halftime to preach these stats because they usually pan out as you dominate a team. \n"When you are rising to the occasion and attacking you will get corners and fouls" Lyon said.\nWhile committing more fouls does not translate into more goals, it can help set the tone in a sport dominated by defense and physical play. \nAs for the corner kicks, Lyon said they are important for one simple reason:\n"You can convert corners into goals." \nAnd goals are the most important stat any team can have in a game.