Soccer team looks to knock off No. 2

Each year the IU men's soccer team invites some of the best teams college soccer has to offer to Bloomington for the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.\nThis year's field lives up to the Classic's reputation with three ranked teams taking the pitch this weekend at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\nThe University of Connecticut, Notre Dame and St. Louis University will help prepare the cream and crimson for their traditionally difficult schedule.\nIU coach Mike Freitag said he loves hosting the Classic each year and the experience his team gets in the early season by taking on great competition.\n"We call it the Classic for one reason -- because it is a classic," he said. "We always have good teams. This year us and St. Louis get to take on Notre Dame and Connecticut, which will be a good test for us."\nThe marquee matchup of the weekend is 7:30 p.m. Friday at Armstrong Stadium, when the No. 12 Hoosiers take on the No. 2 UConn Huskies.\nThe National Soccer Coaches Association of America rankings have not come out since the pre-season, so they do not reflect the Hoosiers' two wins or the Huskies' loss from last weekend.\nAfter a disappointing start to its season, UConn will look to get back on track against the cream and crimson, Freitag said.\n"UConn is going to be a very talented team," Freitag said. "They are going to be hungry after they didn't have the weekend they wanted last weekend. Like a wounded lion, they are going to come out pushing for a victory, so we will have to be our best."\nThe Hoosiers' second game of the weekend is against in-state rival No. 15 Notre Dame. The last time IU and Notre Dame faced off, the Irish ended hopes of an eighth national championship for the Hoosiers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.\nCoach Freitag said he believes the defeat is still with his players as this season begins.\n"I don't think they have talked about it, but I think it's on their minds," he said. "They would like to get revenge for ending our season so abruptly. This team right now has the attitude, and they learned from the past that we are taking one game at a time."\nJunior goalkeeper Chris Munroe said the team is being cautious about focusing the game around getting payback for last season.\n"We have to be careful," Munroe said. "While we are aware Notre Dame ended our season, we have a lot of new faces on our team. We just need to focus and beat this year's Notre Dame team."\nThe Hoosier attack will be led by sophomore forward Brian Ackley. Ackley was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and College Soccer News National Player of the Week for his two goals last weekend against Creighton University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.\nAckley is one of many fresh faces playing important roles for the Hoosiers. Freitag said the upperclassmen have aided the transition of the newcomers by sharing their experience.\n"We got a lot of guys who have been around long enough to know how to do things the right way," Freitag said. "They are trying to pass that on to the others. We have two good captains in (senior midfielder) Josh Tudela and (senior defender) Julian Dieterle, who have won a couple of championships and know what it's all about."\nTudela said he likes the way the team is coming together and said the new additions to the line-up have been impressive so far this season.\n"All the upperclassmen show the younger guys about what wearing the IU uniform is all about," he said. "As a team we compare to the best teams I've been on here at IU. We need to continue to play together, and we will be successful."\nThe team is excited to get in front of "the best fans in America" this weekend. Last season, IU was second in NCAA soccer in average attendance with more than 3,100 fans per contest. The team hopes for a large crowd this weekend, especially since students can now get into the game for free.\nFor the players on the pitch, the large crowd is one of the benefits of being a member of the IU tradition. Playing in front of the self-proclaimed "Superfans" for the first time is an eye-opening experience, Munroe said.\n"Until you experience it, you can't do it justice," he said. "It should be a good weekend for us old-timers, but especially for the new guys"