Freitag faces familiarity in weekend tournament

Saint Louis University was IU head soccer coach Mike Freitag's team growing up in the gateway to the West.\nHis father Charles would take Mike to all of the Billikens home soccer games. The current Hoosier coach would often go back to his neighborhood playground and imitate the players on Harry Keough's legendary teams -- winners of five NCAA titles.\nNow Freitag faces the soccer program he idolized as a kid for the second time in his young head coaching career at 5 p.m. tonight in South Bend as a part of the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament on the campus of Notre Dame. IU also faces Boston University at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on the same Alumni Field.\nIt is the second time in two weeks IU and Notre Dame will both play in the same tournament but not face each other. Notre Dame participated in last weekend's adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.\nThis is the third straight year IU and Notre Dame have participated in each other's tournaments. Freitag said he does not see any reason to discontinue this format because both he and Fighting Irish coach Bobby Clark are happy with the arrangement as both tournaments provide quality competition and neither team has to travel far to begin the season.\nIU and Notre Dame will square off Oct. 26 in South Bend.\nIU played at Saint Louis last season in a Halloween thriller. Senior Jordan Chirico opened up the scoring in the 14th minute and IU had the win locked until Saint Louis' Brandon Gasparovic scored with six seconds remaining in the match. IU junior Jacob Peterson got credit for the game winner 89 seconds into overtime as his shot bounced off a defender and into the goal.\nChirico played wide in the midfield last season, but coming into this season, Freitag looked for someone to fill the shoes of M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner Danny O'Rourke. O'Rourke played defensive midfield, helping a Hoosier defense hold its opponents to .67 goals allowed per match.\nFreitag tried Chirico out at defensive midfield in IU's first exhibition game versus UCLA and started the senior from Conesus, N.Y., in the Hoosiers' two games last weekend. Freitag said Chirico will stay in that slot for the time being because the second-year coach said Chirico played well in the position by winning balls and starting attacks for IU.\nHowever, Chirico did fill in for O'Rourke in 2002 at defensive midfield when O'Rourke was out with an injury. Chirico even played in that slot before he donned the cream and crimson. Chirico has even been in contact with O'Rourke asking for advice and Chirico said even though he is filling O'Rourke's shoes, don't look for his hairstyle to change.\n"That's kinda how it goes here," Chirico said. "As you get older and more experienced, you move into more important roles on the team. I think moving into the middle with Josh (Tudela) and (Brian Plotkin) is good for the team to have some experience all through the midfield."\nIU junior Kevin Robson played high school soccer at Chaminade Prep in St. Louis with four players on the Billikins roster. The St. Peter's, Mo., native got off to a hot start in 2004 as he tallied two assists versus Boston University in IU's opening game of the season and one off the bench last Sunday versus Southern Methodist.\nEven though ideally he would like to start, Robson said he's comfortable with his two-year role of coming off the bench.\n"I'm playing confident right now," Robson said. "Boston is a real good team. They gave us a tough game at our place last year and I'm sure it'll be the same way up at Notre Dame"