The IU men's soccer team's one-sided 4-0 victory over the unseeded University of Tulsa in Sunday's national quarterfinal match resembled the Hoosiers' 5-0 victory over Virginia Commonwealth University in the third round of last year's NCAA Tournament. Against VCU, five different IU players scored goals, all coming in the second half, much like Sunday's win, which saw all four goals against Tulsa coming in the second half.\nCurrent Hoosier juniors Brian Plotkin, Pat Yates and Jordan Chirico, and sophomores Josh Tudela and Jacob Peterson netted the five goals in a 27-minute span versus VCU. Chirico and Peterson contributed three of the four goals Sunday against Tulsa, while Tudela assisted on Peterson's first goal and Yates on senior Greg Badger's goal -- the fourth and final tally of the match.\nThe breakout by the Hoosiers Sunday reflects what the team has been accustomed to in the past. IU won its first two tournament games this season by a combined two goals versus Michigan and Boston College. In 2003, the Hoosiers won their second- and fourth-round matches against Kentucky and the University of California - Los Angeles by a combined two goals as well, only distancing themselves from one opponent, VCU.\n"The last several years it always seems that the first game in the playoffs is tough, and maybe it gets us going," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "I want to thank Michigan for making it a tough game. I think they jump started us again."
Hoosiers celebration short-lived\nThe mood around Jerry Yeagley Field after the final seconds ticked off the 4-0 victory over Tulsa Sunday could be summed up as simply celebratory. \nFans stormed the field, coaches were carried atop shoulders like kings, and even the most tenacious of competitors fell victim to their emotions and let the tears flow. But just as quickly as members of the team were swept away by their emotions, they were brought back down to earth when the realization of a 17th College Cup set in. \n"I want to celebrate and stuff today," said senior co-captain and midfielder Danny O'Rourke. "But it's like any other big game; you want to get out there and celebrate, but you know the next day you have to get back to business."\nThe Hoosiers are now forced to turn around and ride their emotions right into California and tear off two more victories to capture their seventh NCAA title. The Hoosiers spent the early part of the week recovering from Sunday's game with light practices and training sessions, and will catch a flight to Los Angeles Wednesday night. Thursday morning, IU will be the first of the four College Cup teams to grace the Home Depot Center's field with an 11 a.m. practice.
Peterson Steps up in \nTournament Time\nIn IU's five tournament victories en route to the national title last season, Peterson scored three of the Hoosiers' 12 goals. Peterson came out of his shell again in this season's quarterfinals when he scored his first goal in more than a month.\nPeterson entered the Tulsa match with a team leading eight goals in the 2004 season, with his last goal scored on the road versus St. Louis in IU's 2-1 overtime victory on Halloween. He scored the bulk of his goals as part of his hat-trick in the Hoosiers' 3-0 regular season victory over Michigan State, Sept. 26.\nIn many of the Hoosiers' matches this season, teams would clamp down on Peterson because they saw him as the squad's best scoring threat. The combination of nursing a sprained ankle and increased defensive pressure resulted in defenses forcing Peterson to attempt juke moves through a pack of defenders instead of opportunities in which Peterson works best -- one-on-one situations with the opposition's goalkeeper.\n"I think we've had trouble scoring, and we've been winning 1-0," Peterson said. "I think that it really helps us as far as confidence-wise going (into the College Cup) ... We just need to come out and do what we did (Sunday). If we pressure, I think we will be fine."\n-- Contact staff writers Steve Slivka at smslivka@indiana.edu and Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.
