Hoosiers continue losing skid at Saint Louis

ST. LOUIS -- A dejected Brad Ring kept his head down as he answered questions in the shadows of Robert R. Hermann Stadium Friday night. The sophomore midfielder stood outside the IU men's soccer team's locker room, lamenting the team's third loss in four games.\n"We're just playing terrible," Ring said. "There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. We're playing bad."\nThe team got off to a slow start in the first half Friday and fell behind Saint Louis University 1-0 heading into the locker room. Ring said IU coach Mike Freitag, "let into us a little bit, like he should." \n"We were playing horrible," Ring said. "We were playing absolutely horrible, and he let us know it at half time. And we came out, played a little bit better, but not really. We're still laying back, not going after it. He has the right to be mad at us. He should be yelling at us still right now. I don't know why we're out here; he should be yelling at us still."\nFriday's loss brings the season total to three, which ties last year's total for all season. \n"We've been playing scared lately," freshman midfielder Eric Alexander said. "We've been sitting on our heels and haven't really been going at teams like we should."\nFreitag said he hopes his team will pick up the intensity but is not very concerned with his team's win-loss record. \n"I can remember the 2003 season," he said about his last year as assistant coach. "Halfway through the season we had a losing record ... We went on to win a national championship that year."\nThat team entered Big Ten play with a 2-3-4 record. This team is currently 3-3-1 with one game to play before the Big Ten season starts. \nTo bounce back, Ring said it will just "come to us."\n"When we play good, on top of our game, I know we can play with anybody in the country," he said. "I'm sure of that; everyone's sure of that; we all know that."\nMembers of the team say they hope it will come to them Wednesday at the University of Akron in Ohio.\n"This isn't the first time we've been here," Alexander said. "We'll get over these bumps.\n"We'll rebound against Akron," he said. "Hopefully"