Sophomore returns to field after serious injury

When sophomore midfielder Danny O'Rourke went down in warm-ups prior to the IU men's soccer game with Northwestern on Oct. 13 it was the first serious injury a Hoosier had suffered this season. IU responded by winning five of their six games without O'Rourke, a starting defensive-minded midfielder, and went on to clinch the regular season Big Ten Championship.\nHeading into this weekend's Big Ten Championships at University Park, Penn., O'Rourke is slated to be back in the Hoosiers lineup and will be playing with a face mask to protect him from further injuring the four bones he fractured in his face. O'Rourke broke the bones when he collided with senior teammate Phil Presser as both players went after a ball in warm-ups.\nAfter the Northwestern match, IU coach Jerry Yeagley was worried about O'Rourke's injury and the effect it would have on the Hoosiers.\n"(Danny) might be one of the players we really can't lose," Yeagley said. "He covers so much ground and is absolutely crucial to our team. We build around his play on the field and run so much through him."\nSitting out may have hurt O'Rourke more personally than the pressure the Hoosiers had playing without him. IU used junior Drew Shinabarger and freshman Jordan Chirico in O'Rourke's absence. O'Rourke, a native of Columbus, Ohio, started all 22 games he played in as a freshman, as he only missed IU's regular season match with Rutgers. He also started all 12 games prior to the injury this season.\nO'Rourke said watching his teammates play from the sidelines while recovering from injury was often hard to watch as he could not help out.\n"It was painful to watch my teammates out there playing without me, I just want to be out there 100 percent," O'Rourke said. "(Shinabarger) and Jordan did a very nice job filling in. With me back we don't have to make as many subs and we can keep the game going. I kind of play where I don't have to be subbed and I have a little extra aggressiveness."\nO'Rourke started practicing with the Hoosiers again after their match with IUPUI on Nov. 3; since he has been working his way back into game form and becoming accustomed with his teammates again.\nSenior midfielder Ryan Mack said O'Rourke is important as the Hoosiers prepare to make their post-season run.\n"It is really big for him to be back," Mack said. "We played the whole beginning of the season with him and learned how he played, we all had a good feeling in the midfield. When he was out of there it was a little bit different. Now that he is back I think we will be back to normal, it is an added bonus for us."\nAs O'Rourke returns to the Hoosier midfield, both his and Yeagley's primary concern with the use of his facemask is the impairment it creates on his vision.\n"I'll be happy when the mask is off," Yeagley said. "When he looks down or peripherally sometimes there are vision problems, it effects him slightly in his touch. He does better every day adjusting to it. (Tuesday) he was back to his old dynamic and explosive play"