Irish end Hoosier 3-peat hopes

The IU men's soccer team bowed out of the NCAA tournament with a 2-0 loss against in-state rival Notre Dame Tuesday night. \n"Soccer is an honest game," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "It is a cruel game at times, but an honest game. I thought tonight we played a very good opponent who worked hard. I thought my team played well, but not well enough to win."\nThe Irish beat the Hoosiers for the first time in the NCAA tournament, but for the third time under head coach Bobby Clark.\n"We have beaten them before, but that was in the regular season," Clark said. "It's nice to make a statement in a game that really meant a lot to both teams."\nClark said IU handed the Irish one of the worst beatings of the season Oct. 26 when the Hoosiers won 3-0 in South Bend.\n"A lot of people in the soccer world will look up, especially after they came to our place and gave us a hiding," Clark said. "Let's not kid anybody about that. Three weeks ago they gave us a comprehensive beating, so it was nice to come back to their place."\nThe Hoosiers opened the game with several scoring chances in the early minutes. In the forth minute, freshman forward Lee Nguyen took a shot toward the right corner from a pass from junior midfielder Josh Tudela, which Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill deflected away for a corner kick.\nTwo minutes later, freshman midfielder Brad Ring created a couple of opportunities when he fired a shot from 18 yards away and then sent the rebound back across the goal to senior midfielder Mike Ambersley who sent the ball wide of the post.\nThe final Hoosier scoring chance of the first half came when senior midfielder Jordan Chirico found senior midfielder and Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy candidate Brian Plotkin cutting towards goal. Plotkin passed the ball to Nguyen, who sent the ball over the crossbar. The first half ended with the teams deadlocked 0-0.\nTen minutes into the second half, the Irish got on the scoreboard off a counterattack when forward Justin McGeeney headed in a cross from midfielder Ian Etherington.\n"I think I got lost in transition," sophomore defender Greg Stevening said. "I thought Julian (Dieterle) was going to have it, but the ball sailed over him. It caught us off guard."\nFive minutes later, IU had a chance to equalize, but Cahill denied a Plotkin header on a cross from Nguyen. In the 62nd minute, the Irish iced the game when forward Joe Lapira chipped the ball over sophomore goalie Chris Munroe to give Notre Dame the 2-0 lead. Failing to capitalize on opportunities haunted the Hoosiers. IU out shot the Irish 16-12 and had a 6-5 advantage on corner kicks for the game, but in the end their efforts were not enough to advance, Freitag said.\n"I'm sad," Freitag said. "I love my team. I loved the way they played"