IU draws home field until semifinals

One day after losing the Big Ten Championship, the IU men's soccer team received good news as the NCAA tournament selection committee awarded the Hoosiers the No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. IU plays the winner of the Notre Dame-Western Illinois game Tuesday, Nov. 22 at Armstrong Stadium.\n"I am very happy with the No. 3 seed," IU coach Mike Freitag said. "We were hoping with our performance this year with only two losses that we would show we were deserving of a top three seed. It is very satisfying."\nThe Hoosiers packed City Grille to watch the selection show yesterday evening on ESPNEWS. The team remained confident it would be named a top four seed, but its Big Ten Championship loss to Penn State still left some doubt.\nAfter 15 minutes, ESPNEWS went to commercial break without announcing IU's seed. The restless team booed once the commercial break ended and ESPNEWS cut to an interview with Alex Rodriguez before releasing the rest of the tournament field.\nWhen the Rodriguez interview ended, ESPNEWS announced the Hoosiers as the No. 3 seed. The room filled with the players' yelling and screaming, excited they would have home games until the College Cup in Cary, N.C.\n"We are so happy," junior defender Jed Zayner said. "It's nice to know that we will be back at home. We play our best at home, especially in the tournament. We don't lose at home in the tournament."\nThe other three seeded teams in the Hoosiers' bracket are No. 6 Duke, No. 11 Penn State and No. 14 North Carolina State. Duke and N.C. State are two of eight teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference -- an NCAA tournament record for most entries.\n"(In) college soccer there is so much parity these days," Freitag said. "It means that all these teams here can beat anybody on a given day. So we will go and prepare for the game next Tuesday, and we'll see who comes out of the game between Notre Dame and Western Illinois."\nThe other top four seeds are No. 1 Maryland, No. 2 New Mexico and No. 4 North Carolina.\n"I feel very confident with this team that we can play with anybody," Freitag said. "I haven't seen a team yet that I fear, but I respect all teams out there. I know the capability of my team, and I feel very confident that we can have a good run."\nThe Hoosiers could potentially face Penn State in the quarterfinals if both teams win their first two games. The Nittany Lions are the only team that has beaten IU this season. The only silence during the entire show came when ESPN analyst Eric Wynalda said Penn State was the only team in the tournament not afraid of the Hoosiers and predicted the Nittany Lions to advance to the College Cup from their bracket.\n"It's a long way off," senior midfielder Jordan Chirico said. "If they are going to have to come to Bloomington and try it again, I don't see it happening. I'm pretty confident. We like our draw."\nHeading into the tournament, Freitag said he feels the team is ready to peak after taking time to find its identity during the regular season.\n"I knew going into the season that it was going take time for this team to really get to where it can play to its potential," he said. "Some of those ties are indicators of lessons we learned. Ever since the Notre Dame game, I've felt very good how my team is playing"