Once, twice, three times a champ?

He doesn't have the demeanor of a mad scientist, but Mike Freitag is trying to find the right chemistry between his players for a third straight run at a national title.\nThe consensus No. 1 ranked, two-time defending national champions host the University of Illinois-Chicago at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Armstrong Stadium in IU's final exhibition match before hosting the annual Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic the following weekend.\nIn past years, many might have undermined the significance of the team's preseason exhibition games, but Freitag said the two games are key to finding who can fill holes left by former Hoosier standouts Drew Moor, Jay Nolly and former national player of the year Danny O'Rourke. \n"These exhibition games are huge for us because you can only play yourself so many times and know the tendencies of the other team so it's easy," junior back Jed Zayner said. "When you get into a game situation, there's pressure, the fans, there's a lot riding on an Indiana soccer player other than just playing."\nOne of the biggest slots the second-year head coach needs to find is a replacement between the pipes.\nNolly played in the net for IU every minute of every match since October 2002, leading IU to back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004, playing an instrumental role for 2004 as the championship match went to a shootout. In last Friday's exhibition match in Fort Wayne versus UCLA, Freitag started sophomore keeper Chris Munroe in goal and substituted freshman Chay Cain -- a 2005 Parade Magazine high school soccer All-American -- for the second half.\nMunroe had two saves while Cain allowed one goal in IU's 1-1 tie with UCLA.\n"Right now I think Cain and Munroe are both playing pretty well," Freitag said. "We'll just see how it pans out. I'd feel comfortable with either one in there right now. I think maybe sometimes experience is \nhelpful."\nOther goalkeepers on the team are junior Nathan Scherpenisse and freshman Joe Andrews.\nPart of trying to find the right balance between Freitag's players is also finding which freshmen will see playing time this season. Freitag said although the players comprising the No. 1 ranked class by such publications as College Soccer News and www.rivals.com were big fish at the high school level, now they are just other fish on the team.\nJunior forward Jacob Peterson, who trained and lived with the United States Under-17 national team in Florida before enrolling at IU in 2003, said he needs to take a leadership role to show the incoming freshmen what IU soccer is all about.\n"Obviously we have a great freshman class coming in," Peterson said. "I think that now as I'm a junior, me, Jed and Julian and some of the older guys now got to take the leadership role that was left by Drew and Danny last year. So I think we need to step up and lead them along this year."\nNot short of accolades himself, Peterson, along with Zayner and senior Brian Plotkin are listed on the 2005 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List with 25 other players in college soccer. O'Rourke won the same award last season. \nSoccer America also named Peterson to the magazine's preseason All-American list, and he joins Zayner again as College Soccer News named the duo to that publication's second team preseason All-American team.\n"It's definitely a confidence booster, but in my mind, it's hard for me to think like that," Zayner said. "I was talking to my mom, and I said, 'I think of some of these awards and I just don't think of myself as a player like that.' I'm honored that people think of me like that, and I just play the game and work hard for the team"