California dreamin'

Five Hoosiers scored as IU pounded Virginia Commonwealth 5-0 Sunday in the third round of the NCAA tournament, setting up a matchup against No. 1 UCLA this week for a ticket to the final four. \nSunday's win marked the final home game for coach Jerry Yeagley, who is one win from reaching the College Cup for the second time in three years and 16th time overall.\nLast season, Connecticut bounced IU from the tournament in the third round.\nThe Hoosiers and the Rams ended the first half scoreless Sunday, but 10 minutes into the second half, VCU forward McColm Cephas earned a red card for elbowing freshman back Julian Dieterle in the face, forcing the Rams to play a man down the rest of the way.\n"I couldn't be any more pleased with our performance today. (VCU) had a good year representing their conference, but they met the Hoosiers on a day that IU had its A-game -- all the players," IU coach Jerry Yeagley said. "We frustrated them, and as a result of their frustration, they lost a man."\nA man short, VCU broke out of its defensive shell, opening the door for an IU scoring outburst ignited by sophomore midfielder Brian Plotkin's penalty kick goal after junior forward Greg Badger was tackled in the box.\n"With the red card, they had kind of fallen back in, so it opened up a lot of space," Plotkin said. "So we just started finishing."\nEleven minutes later, freshman back Jed Zayner drove down the left side into the box, forcing the goaltender out while centering a pass to freshman midfielder Josh Tudela for the goal. \nInstead of laying back with a two-goal lead, IU buried a fading VCU team with three more goals in a 10-minute span. Freshman forward Jacob Peterson netted his second goal of the tournament from sophomore midfielder Pat Yates, who would score IU's next goal with four minutes left. \n"We have not scored five goals all year, and Plotkin tells me they did not score five goals in a game last year," Peterson said. "So a 5-0 win is what we wanted to give coach in his last possible home game."\nSophomore back Jordan Chirico scored the fifth and final goal with just 16 seconds left in the game. \nIn two tournament games, the Rams yielded seven goals, including two in their 5-2 second round win over Virginia Tech Wednesday. VCU finished the season with a 16-5 overall mark. \n"IU is a very good team, and the better team certainly won today. I was disappointed the way our season ended but in saying that, IU was awfully good," VCU coach Tim O'Sullivan said. "I felt we were very nervous, and I think we played scared. With IU being as sharp as they were, I think it was a matter of time, but I would not have imagined it would have been as bad as it was."\nBehind an offensive explosion without their leading goal scorer (junior Ned Grabavoy) was the Hoosier defense, which shut down a dangerous VCU offense without sophomore defender Drew Moor. \nEven a trip to the College Cup will not likely bring back Grabavoy or Moor as the U.S. U20 National Team won their opening match 3-1 over Paraguay. \n"Right now, more people are picking up the slack. Sure, we would like to have them back, but right now we are playing well as a team," Yeagley said. " Other people are picking up the slack. No one is feeling sorry and looking over their shoulder for Ned or Drew."\nIU beat Kentucky 2-1 Wednesday in double overtime on a corner kick which was pushed in by Badger for his first career goal. Peterson scored the Hoosiers' first goal after IU fell behind 1-0 in the first half.\nThe Hoosiers will now travel to Los Angeles to battle the nation's best who are 19-1-1 and a perfect 10-0 at home. The Bruins road to the quarters featured a 3-2 win over Tulsa and a 2-0 victory against Florida International.\n"We welcome the challenge, and we won't go out there and bunker in. We will just go and tee it up and go toe-to-toe with them," Yeagley said. "It is fun to be here, but our history makes it clear that we are not just satisfied being in the final eight."\n-- Contact staff writer Daniel Cohen at djcohen@indiana.edu.