Week full of honors

IU's reign over the Big Ten conference continued Sunday at Ohio State as the men's soccer team traveled to Columbus, Ohio and downed the Buckeyes 4-2. The win extended the Hoosiers consecutive winning streak in regular season conference games to 36 and gave IU its seventh consecutive No. 1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament.The team has also reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in both College Soccer News' poll and the adidas/NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) poll. \nWith the Big Ten No. 1 seed, the Hoosiers have secured a bye for the first round of the tournament and would only have to play two games to win the championship, while all other teams would need to play three games in four days to win the title.\n"It is a great accomplishment not to lose a game in the regular season," senior Pat Noonan said. "The first seed is obviously very big for us, because it keeps us from playing three games and we should have our fresh legs, so this was a big game for us."\nNoonan and two other seniors celebrated personal accomplishments along with the team's success this week. Noonan was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week while John Swann was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Ryan Mack was named College Soccer News' National Player of the Week.\nSunday the Hoosiers jumped on top of Ohio State early and did not relent as they netted two goals in each half. Sophomore Ned Grabavoy scored at the 16:08 mark of the first half as he gathered a loose ball in the box and drilled it past Buckeye sophomore keeper Chad Brown into the left side of the goal. Senior teammates Noonan and Mack connected for IU's second goal. From 30 yards out on the right side of the field, Noonan crossed the ball into the box as a diving Mack headed the ball off the left post and into the goal.\nTo start the second half, it looked as though the Buckeyes were going to make a game of it as they controlled the ball for the first five minutes of the game. Ohio State sophomore Peter Withers was credited with a Buckeye goal 2:25 into the second half as IU failed to clear the ball from their defensive box.\nHoosier coach Jerry Yeagley was upset his IU squad allowed the Buckeyes to threaten the Hoosiers right out of halftime.\n"Giving up the goal at the start of the second half, a restart goal, the disappointment of the match was that we took our foot off the pedal when we came out with a two goal lead and gave up a goal in the first five minutes," Yeagley said.\nIU pushed their lead back to two with 33 minutes left on their only corner kick of the match. Freshman Brian Plotkin took the kick and found Swann who headed it past Brown. Noonan then picked up a goal to push IU's lead to 4-1, before Ohio State sophomore Sammy Tamporello beat IU sophomore keeper Jay Nolly with 30 seconds remaining in the match to lead to the final score of 4-2.\nThe Hoosiers were without sophomore midfielder Danny O'Rourke who is sidelined indefinitely after having surgery on four broken bones in his face. Yeagley is hopeful O'Rourke will be back in the lineup for the Big Ten Championships which are Nov. 14-17 at Penn State. \nMack noted the importance of O'Rourke returning for the Hoosiers, but is also confident his replacements can do the job.\n"We are for sure missing Danny in the midfield, but I think Jordan (Chirico) and Drew (Shinabarger) are feeling more comfortable in their positions," Mack said. "They are stepping up and playing hard and playing the role that Danny played. I think that if you know how to play that role you are pretty well off and they are doing a great job in that role."\nYeagley said the Hoosiers first season goal of winning the regular season Big Ten Championship has now been accomplished and now IU will look to finish their season strong riding a current 11-game winning streak.\n"I think the regular season is more difficult to win than the tournament, because you have to do it all year long against everyone," Yeagley said. "I think this group deserves a lot of credit for again not dropping a game in conference. Our next goal is to finish out the season strong and then taking care of post-season, winning the Big Ten and hopefully getting a good seed in the NCAA"