Hoosiers sweep Big Ten weekly awards

Three times last season, the Big Ten's weekly awards for Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week consisted of nothing but Hoosiers. After a 3-1 victory over Michigan State last weekend, the Hoosiers swept the awards for their first time of the 2004 season.\nSophomore forward Jacob Peterson secured the offensive honors, while senior midfielder Danny O'Rourke received the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. It was the first time receiving the honor for either player in their careers.\n"Any time players play like that, it's awesome," senior goalkeeper Jay Nolly said. "To get recognized for their hard work, it shows we're taking the right steps, and hopefully we can see some more sweeps this season."\nNolly received the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award two weeks ago -- bringing his total up to six. \nPeterson received the recognition after registering a monumental homecoming, as the Portage, Mich., native notched three goals for his first career hat-trick. The three goals bring his season total up to six, which leads the team.\n"The talent on this team is unbelievable," Nolly said. "We have players that would be starting at 90 percent of the schools in the nation, but they don't see much playing time here. Any week someone can step up on our team and be the player of the week."\nDespite being named to the first team All-Big Ten team twice in his career, O'Rourke had yet to be recognized as a player of the week. But after being forced to sit out in the Hoosiers' loss to New Mexico, O'Rourke connected with Peterson for two of the goals to go along with his solid defensive play.\n"It was so hard to sit out and watch them play against New Mexico and not be able to fight with them," O'Rourke said. "But it just gave me a little more time to prepare."\nThe two assists bring O'Rourke's season point total to six, third best on the team behind only Peterson and junior midfielder Brian Plotkin.\n"Having (O'Rourke) out hurt the most against New Mexico," Peterson said. "He is the most important player we have."\nWith a strong victory in Michigan State, the individual recognition may seem like a step in the right direction after dropping two in New Mexico, but O'Rourke said they never went backward in the first place.\n"The funny thing is everyone thinks you drop two, how are you going to respond?" he said. "But the way we played out there, I don't think we ever skipped a beat. We just couldn't find the back of the net."\nThe Hoosiers moved back up slightly in the polls, ranked as high as No. 2. They will face No. 5 Penn State in an early battle for Big Ten supremacy Friday at State College, Pa. \n-- Contact staff writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.