All guts and no glory for revamped Hoosier defense

New to IU this season, women's soccer coach Mick Lyon inherited a unknown defense. Lyon said he knew changes would have to be made in order to remedy an ailing squad that ranked last in Big Ten conference play in both shutouts and goals allowed in 2001.\n"During preseason, and the first couple of games, I thought we would be an absolute liability at the back," Lyon said. "I knew it was going to be a personal task to put some semblance of good defense together." \nFortunately for the Hoosiers, Lyon's teaching worked and IU has improved to fifth in the Big Ten in both goals allowed and shutouts.The team said they felt that during their game against Michigan State the defense finally clicked in the 1-0 shutout. It marked the team's fifth shutout of the season.\n"They have responded and listened and trained hard. They've grown from the experience of game to game and become a very tight and awesome unit," Lyon said.\nTo succeed on defense players need to have a certain tenacity to put pressure on forwards who are looking to score, Lyon said. \nDeveloping a confident attitude has been important for his team and requires each player to take an individual responsibility to refuse to be beaten. \n"You do whatever it takes. If you have to hit them, you hit them. If you trip them, you trip them, but they're not going to get by you," junior goalkeeper Shaunna Daugherty said. "Forwards can boast about how many goals they score, but defense, what they take pride in is shutouts. And the bottom line is don't let people get by you."\nDaugherty is a vocal leader for the defense, earning a yellow card for arguing with an official in her shutout against MSU, October 11. She is tied for third in Big Ten play with 34 saves, just one save from second place. \nOver her three years, Daugherty and the team has not made it to the Big Ten tournament but she said this season things are different. \n"Our attitude is so much better than it has been just for the sheer fact that we know that we're a very good team," Daugherty said. "We're definitely making a statement for ourselves and our program."\nThe Hoosiers are playing composed defense, and because Lyon is keeping the same group of five or six players in the backfield, the defenders have become accustomed to each others strength and weaknesses.\n"We're working together really well; I think that's the biggest thing. If somebody goes down or if somebody gets out of position, we're covering really well for it," senior defender Lisa Tecklenburg said.\nLyon's strategy of keeping opposing teams guessing as to his defensive system has also contributed to the team's success.\n"When teams are scouting us they're going to say, 'They play with a sweeper,' and then someone else is going to say, 'No, they play flat,' then someone else is going to say, 'They play with three.' And they're not going to know what were going to do until we get on the field," Lyon said. "That's been good for us to be able to do that."\nBoth the coach and the players said they take pride in IU's defensive play even if it might go unnoticed by fans. The players mentioned a slight resentment that defenders don't get statistical recognition for making a stop or preventing offensive penetration. \n"It's all guts and no glory." Tecklenburg said. \nTo improve, Lyon said the team has to work on putting more height on the ball when clearing it out of IU's defensive third. He added the Hoosiers need to find within their defensive unit someone who can stop creative forwards on the opposition. Penn State freshman forward Tiffany Weimer burned IU three times for goals on September 27 in University Park.\n"Other than the first half against Penn State when we played very pensive, I don't think there's been a team that has broken up and destroyed our defensive unit," Lyon said.\nThe next three conference games away from Bill Armstrong Stadium will determine IU's seed in the Big Ten tournament. The players said they feel comfortable with their fifth place standing in what will be an eight team competition, but are realistic about the road ahead. \n"It's still game by game," Tecklenburg said. "It's still one step at a time. The next game we play is the most important one we play. One mistake is the difference between winning a game and losing a game"