IU squares off against Irish in tourney

The IU men's soccer team enters the NCAA Tournament looking to do something no team has done in championship history of the program: win three national championships in a row. \nAfter a first-round bye, the No. 3-seeded Hoosiers begin their quest for a three-peat when they play host to Notre Dame 7 p.m. Tuesday. Because this is an NCAA event, students will be charged $7 for tickets.\nThe cream and crimson were unable to capitalize on opportunities for a three-peat after winning back-to-back titles in the 1982-83 and 1998-99 seasons. The University of Virginia is the only school to win more than two consecutive championships, The Cavaliers won four straight titles from 1991 to 1995.\nThe Hoosiers face a familiar foe when instate rival Notre Dame comes to Armstrong Stadium. IU (13-2-6) owns a 23-3-1 overall advantage against the Irish (10-7-3), including a 1-0 victory in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. While the Hoosiers hold a dominate advantage in the all-time series, they've only won three of the last five contests against The Fighting Irish.\nThe Hoosiers traveled to South Bend earlier this season after playing their worst game of the season against Ohio State. Goals from freshman forward Lee Nguyen, senior midfielder Mike Ambersley and sophomore defender Charley Traylor led the Hoosiers to a 3-0 victory. IU head coach Mike Freitag regards the Oct. 26 match as the turning point in the season for the Hoosiers.\nWith the No. 3 seed, the Hoosier enter the tournament knowing they won't have to play a road game until the College Cup in Cary, N.C. IU owns a 45-3 home record in the NCAA tournament. The .938 home winning percentage in the NCAA tournament is higher than the overall .875 overall home winning percentage for the cream and crimson.\nThe Hoosiers are led by a trio of Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy semi-finalists in senior forward Brian Plotkin, junior forward Jacob Peterson and junior defender Jed Zayner. Plotkin, the Big Ten Player of the Year, and Peterson lead the team with 26 points. Zayner anchors the Hoosier defense that has shut out opponents 13 times this season and ranks 11th in the nation in goals against average (.62).