IU knocks out Buckeyes at home

The IU men's soccer team was victorious over Ohio State 3-0 Sunday at Armstrong Stadium. The Hoosiers (7-3-4, 4-0-1 Big Ten) have posted four consecutive shutouts and have won five straight matches. IU's last loss came Sept. 18 at Notre Dame when it lost in double-overtime. The Hoosiers have out-scored their opponents 12-1 in the previous five games.\nWhile IU started to knock on the door in the first half against Ohio State (3-9-3, 2-2-0), it broke through in the second. The Hoosiers scored three goals in a span of 13 minutes to open up the game. IU struck first six minutes into the second period. Sophomore midfielder Brian Plotkin netted an unorthodox goal. He was in the box and turned around and quickly kicked the ball with his right foot. The Buckeye keeper appeared to be surprised by the shot, as he didn't move and the ball trickled into the right side of the goal. It was Plotkin's fourth goal of the season.\nMeanwhile, neither team could tally a goal in the first half as IU edged the Buckeyes in shots at the half, 4-3, but the game remained scoreless at the break.\n"I was worried at halftime," IU coach Jerry Yeagley said. "But we came out in the second half with the engines going full blast. That's the best we've played as far as intensity and focus."\nWith the shutout victory, the Hoosiers still maintain a commanding 44-match unbeaten streak in Big Ten regular season action. They also have won 20 straight home games at Armstrong Stadium.\nIn the first half, it appeared as if both teams were feeling each other out, as neither team had more than a few quality scoring opportunities, although IU applied pressure in the early minutes of the contest. IU registered three shots before Ohio State attempted its first. Furthermore, it took the Buckeyes more than half of the first half to record their second shot of the period.\nThe Hoosiers' best scoring chance of the half came three minutes into the match. \nSenior midfielder Drew Shinabarger belted a low-lining shot from the right side that was saved by Ohio State sophomore goalkeeper Ray Burse, Jr.\n"Coach told us at halftime the first team to score would win," freshman forward Jacob Peterson said. "That turned out to be true."\nFreshman defender Julian Dieterle, who recorded IU's second goal of the match, agreed with his teammate about getting on the board first, especially at home.\n"It was crucial to score first," Dieterle said. "We came out in the second half and played differently than we did in the first. We were running onto balls more than we were in the first."\nDieterle scored the second goal of his career with 32:50 left in the contest.\nWith the shutout, the Hoosiers have not given up a goal since the 19th minute of the Oct. 5 match at Michigan.\n"I thought our defense played really well today," Yeagley said. "We worked on finishing offensively in practice and that paid off, but our defense was solid today as well. The play of (senior defender David) Prall, Shinabarger, and (senior midfielder Vijay) Dias was very good in the back today. Those three helped shut down Ohio State."\nIU's final goal of the contest came off the foot of Peterson, who notched his third goal of the season and of his young career to make it 3-0.\nAfter the victory, the Hoosiers own a 29-1-0 lead in the all-time series against the Buckeyes.\nIU next squares off against No. 5 St. Louis University Friday at Armstrong Stadium at 7:30 p.m.\nPeterson said IU is playing with renewed confidence, and he said he hopes this is the beginning of a very strong run.\n"Right now, we have a five-game winning streak," Peterson said. "Our goal is not to lose another game."\n-- Contact staff writer Zack Eldridge at zeldridg@indiana.edu.