Hoosiers offense slim in weekend matches

For the third straight season, the IU men's soccer squad failed to claim the championship as they hosted the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic this past weekend. The consensus No. 1 ranked Hoosiers took on No. 7 Rutgers on Friday night and No. 9 Clemson on Saturday evening.\nIn a tight defensive battle, Rutgers and IU played to a 0-0 tie after two overtimes. Rutgers stymied the Hoosiers offensive attack by consistently putting nine and 10 men back on defense. Despite doubling the Scarlet Knights' shot output 16-8, IU was able to put just four shots on the goal of Rutgers senior keeper Ricky Zinter.\nFifth-year senior midfielder Ryan Mack returned to the Hoosier lineup after sitting out all of last year with an ACL tear. Mack provided a spark for the Hoosiers and was excited to be back on the field in an IU uniform.\n"It was great to be back out there with all my friends and to see all of the fans in the stands, it really fired me up," Mack said. "We were rushing our shots a little bit and I think we might have to relax and not push it so much and I think the goals will come."\nWith two minutes left in regulation, redshirt freshman Pat Yates received a cross from junior Vijay Dias and knocked a shot off the side post. Hoosier sophomore Ned Grabavoy then fed senior All-American Pat Noonan at the 97:58 mark as Noonan launched a shot that forced Zinter to make a tough save.\nWhile Zinter was kept on his toes, IU sophomore goalie Jay Nolly went untested with no shots on goal in his first career start as a Hoosier.\nThe Rutgers match also kicked off the 30th season for coach Jerry Yeagley at the helm of the Hoosier squad. Yeagley was pleased with the play of his new goalie.\n"I thought that in the first half Jay was a little tentative and wasn't taking charge," Yeagley said. "But it was his first big game at home and in front of a big crowd and as the game went on I thought he settled in. I thought his distribution and kicking skills were very good, but we need him to become more of a force, which he is capable of being."\nRutgers (0-1-1) took on Butler prior to the IU/Clemson showdown Saturday and Butler (1-1) came away with a 3-0 victory. Clemson dominated Butler in their match on Friday winning 3-0, so the Tigers came into the match with the Hoosiers needing just a tie to claim the Classic Championship.\nA tie is just what they got as IU (0-0-2) and Clemson battled to a 1-1 draw that included several scoring chances, especially for the Hoosiers. But Tigers goalie, senior Doug Warren avenged his 2-0 loss to IU in the NCAA quarterfinals last year. Warren played at IU his freshman year and made two game-preserving saves on former teammate Noonan to keep the game at 1-1. One save was a one-handed diving grab as Noonan tried to put a ball in the top right corner with just 2:35 left in the second overtime period.\nMack started out the scoring at the 8-minute mark with a shot from 10 yards out after receiving a centering pass from Noonan and shaking loose from his defender. But, Clemson answered just under 10 minutes later as junior midfielder Paul Souders put a shot over the outstretched arm of Nolly into the top right corner. Tiger senior forward Dimelon Westfield assisted Souders on the shot from 20 yards out.\n"It was a heck of a game between two excellent teams playing tooth-and-nail," Yeagley said. "Certainly we had the better chances, but their goalkeeper came up very big."\nIU outshot Clemson 12-5, including 7-4 in shots on goal, forcing Warren to make 6 saves while Nolly made his first three saves of the year.\nYeagley is confident the Hoosiers offense will come around, but was content with the progress of his defensive unit which was in question coming into the weekend.\n"I am proud of our defense," he said. "We played excellent teams and to hold (Clemson) to five shots, I guess our defense was a bright spot. Our offense sputtered and that is going to happen because you get droughts; goals will come and if we keep defending the way we did, we are going to be alright."\nThe IU defense was represented on the All-Tournament team as senior back John Swann and senior sweeper Phil Presser joined Clemson's Souders, Warren, senior Fabio Tombosi and junior Eric Lewis. Rutgers was represented by senior Guy Abrahamson and junior Josh Gros while Butler seniors Nick Pantazi and Mike Mariscalco and junior Grant Barrie were also All-Tournament team members.\nPantazi was awarded the Fair Play Award, while Souders was named Classic Offensive MVP. Swann claimed the Classic Defensive MVP award for his work on Clemson's Dimelon Westfield.\n"The coaches scouted (Westfield) really well and I knew how to play him," Swann said. "He was a lot faster than I was and I just forced him into my other teammates. (Being named MVP) was a good honor to have and a lot of hard work goes into it, but I would give anything to give away that award for a first place trophy for the tournament."\nThe Hoosiers return to action when the travel to the St. John's Classic on Sept. 6 & 7 to play William & Mary and No. 3 St. John's.