A sizeable crowd showed up to support the Hoosiers despite the rain at Bill Armstrong Stadium Sunday. While most of the 1,410 fans were huddling under umbrellas or wearing ponchos, the IU student section, nicknamed "The Superfans," did not let rain hamper its enthusiasm for the Hoosiers.\n"A championship program deserves championship-like fans," junior Superfan John Fischer said. "The only way we will get another championship is if we get the fans out here every single game, regardless of the weather. The fans have to be here if we are going to win."\nThe Hoosiers have a history of large crowds at their games. Since the NCAA began tracking soccer attendance in 2001, IU is only one of two schools that has averaged more than 2,000 fans per game. IU led the nation in average attendance last season after leading in total attendance in 2003. So far this season, IU has averaged more than 3,000 fans per game and has had two games where attendance broke the 4,000 mark.
Sloppy field worsens playing conditions\nA summer of little rain left the field at Armstrong Stadium less than perfect heading into the fall season. The field was on its way to recovery until Sunday's game when the Hoosiers and Spartans tore up the soaked field. The rain slowed the pace of the game down and made the play sloppy.\n"We weren't really able to find our rhythm as much," senior midfielder Brian Plotkin said. "We had to play more direct and we couldn't get the ball moving like we wanted. Maybe it was the field, maybe it was us, whatever it was we couldn't find a way to score."\nThe wet conditions made the ball bounce in unpredictable ways, which made it difficult to judge where the ball was going. While a bad bounce on the offensive end meant a loss of possession, a bad bounce on the defensive end could have cost either team the game.\n"Our field didn't retain water very well and there were a lot of puddles out there that made the game slow," junior defender Jed Zayner said. "It's very hard to play over those puddles, especially in the defense."
Hoosiers to play on national TV\nThe Hoosiers will look for their first Big Ten win of the season Friday when they play host to the Penn State Nittany Lions. The game will be featured on Fox Soccer Channel as a part of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Game of the Week series.\n"It's under the lights and we will have a great crowd," Zayner said. "We are just happy to play in front of our fans on a Friday night. We are going to put a show on out there."\nThe Hoosiers have a history of success playing on national television. The Hoosiers last played on ESPN when they defeated the University of California, Santa Barbara, to capture last season's seventh national title in school history.
