After letting two wins slip away last weekend, Freitag and the gang are picking up the pieces.

Watching the game tape from Sunday's overtime loss to in-state rival Notre Dame, IU men's soccer coach Mike Freitag noticed a couple things about his team's play.\nFirst, the Hoosiers had a hard time stopping Notre Dame forward Joe Lapira. \nSecond, his boys were tired. \n"We had some heavy-legged backs, some tired backs that came against the Tasmanian devil (Lapira)," Freitag said.\nHis defense allowed five goals for the Irish -- the most in IU team history. IU played the University of Connecticut Friday night and then the Irish Sunday, leaving many players tired.\n"Both teams weren't at their best on Sunday, but that's what you have to deal with," Freitag said. "This week's going to be even worse. You play Friday and Saturday nights, so even less time to recover."\nThe No. 10 Hoosiers face No. 3 Southern Methodist University Friday night in Dallas and take the field again Saturday to battle Tulsa University.\nFreitag promises his team will not have a defensive letdown. \n"Everybody knows that's not going to happen again," he said. \nTo make sure of it, a variety of players will see game action. \n"This is going to be a team," Freitag said. "This year, the team is going to be important. A lot of players are going to be important. Fresh legs are going to have to come in."\nHis players know that as well. \n"The thing about this team as opposed to some of the IU teams is we're really deep and that really helps us on the field," sophomore forward Kevin Noschang said. "We got guys that can come in and can do the job if other guys get tired. Substitutions this weekend are going to be very big for us if we want to win both games."\nFreshman defender/midfielder Kevin Alston said the defense has to improve its communication.\n"It looked like sometimes people got caught one-on-one," Alston said. "It seemed like we should help them out more."\nAfter Sunday's loss, Freitag said he didn't believe any adjustments needed to be made to his defense. IU keeps three defenders in the backfield while most college teams play four. It's a strategy the Hoosiers have used to win seven national championships. \nThis week, he reinforced his confidence in his defense. \n"The way we're playing, if we cut out a few mistakes, we'll be fine," Freitag said. \nHe also expressed his confidence in junior goalie Chris Munroe, who was in goal during the loss to the Irish. Munroe and sophomore Chay Cain have each played two full games this season. Freitag said he did not know which goalie would start the game against SMU.