Hoosiers hopeful of earning No. 1 seed in Big Ten tournament heading into last conference game

The IU men's soccer team capped a three-game homestand Sunday with a pair of wins against Big Ten rivals Wisconsin and Northwestern.\nThe wins increased the Hoosiers' Big Ten regular season win streak to 35 games heading into its final conference game against Ohio State (8-3-0, 2-0-0 in Big Ten), and could possibly decide the number one seed in the Big Ten Tournament.\nOhio State must travel to Michigan and Northwestern to finish out its conference schedule after facing IU. \nThe Hoosiers have outscored conference foes 15-3, and sophomore goalkeeper Jay Nolly has notched two of his seven shutouts against Big Ten opponents.\nIU (10-1-2, 5-0-0 in Big Ten) entered this weekend's games in very good position to take the conference crown riding sophomore Ned Grabavoy's hot streak and the defense's stifling play, but IU's season took a sudden turn for the worse before the Northwestern game.\nSophomore Danny O'Rourke collided with a teammate during pregame warm-ups, fracturing his jaw in two places, leaving a huge void in the backfield.\n"He's been so crucial to the whole team," coach Jerry Yeagley. "He provides energy to everyone. We'll be a completely different team without Danny."\nBut IU still managed to hold a scrappy Northwestern team to only six shots without O'Rourke and a suspended senior John Swann. Swann will return to action this week in hopes of tying down the defensive backfield.\nWithout O'Rourke, IU's offense will need to step up another level to help take the pressure off the backs. The Hoosier offense has been lethargic at times, but equally as explosive at other times.\nSeniors Pat Noonan and Ryan Mack have been constant scoring threats throughout the season with 20 and 17 points respectively. But arguably the biggest spark lately has been Grabavoy.\n"Ned's a special player, and he can do things that no one else can," Yeagley said. "When Ned has the ball, exciting things happen."\nGrabavoy increased his point streak to eight games after scoring two goals versus Wisconsin (7-5-0, 1-2-0 in Big Ten) and assisting on sophomore Josh Reiher's first career goal in the Northwestern (5-7-0, 0-3-0 in Big Ten) game.\nSince tying an IU record with four assists in the Michigan State game, Grabavoy has played like a man possessed. The sophomore leads IU in conference scoring with 13 points on four goals and five assists.\nAll but four of Grabavoy's 17 total points have come in the five conference games, and his emergence as a reliable scorer could not have come at a better time.\n"He's helping us out offensively big time because he's starting to finish and getting the ball to guys' feet in the box," Noonan said. "Now's a great time for him to come on because we had been struggling offensively, and we just want to build on what we did against Wisconsin."\nAlthough IU barely squeaked by a mediocre Northwestern team, the Hoosiers sill have their sights on claiming the top spot in the Big Ten Tournament.\n"Our confidence will hopefully not drop," Grabavoy said. "Today was a very ugly day, but it's too late in the season to be inconsistent. If you want to go far, every game has to be at the highest level"