IU hosts Santa Clara in third round of NCAA Tournament Saturday

Whenever the IU men's soccer team challenges the Santa Clara University Broncos, someone's season is likely to end.\nThough the two programs have met only six times, the five most recent meetings were during the College Cup -- the Final Four of college soccer. The last time the two faced IU beat the Broncos 1-0 in the national semifinal game en route to its sixth NCAA Championship.\nThat's why IU coach Mike Freitag knows that when the No. 7-seed Hoosiers meet that "damn good team" at 7 p.m. Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, his players will have to be at their best. \nSure, IU might hold a three-game winning streak against the team from out west, but the Broncos won the three games prior. And just like the five most recent meetings, the winner will advance in the NCAA Tournament.\n"They really get after it defensively," Freitag said of the Broncos, a team the Hoosiers defeated en route to three of its four most recent championships. "They have a high-pressure defense with talented players at every position. They like to force you in to mistakes."\nFreitag's been scrambling to do his homework on the Broncos since learning that's who the Hoosiers would face. The No. 10 seed Broncos beat the Washington Huskies 3-2 in overtime to advance to the third round of the tournament. \nWhen the Broncos arrive in Bloomington, Freitag and Santa Clara coach Cameron Rast will exchange the team's most recent game tapes, per NCAA rules, to help the coaches scout each other.\n"At this stage, everybody's a good team," Freitag said. "Everybody knows how to win."\nFour Broncos have scored five or more goals on the year, and Freitag said the team's offensive attack is similar to a hockey team's which it dumps the ball toward the goal and attacks from all angles.\nLike its two most recent opponents, the Broncos will stand a bit taller than the Hoosiers. To make up for the height disadvantage, junior defender Charley Traylor said the Hoosier defense must stay vigilant.\n"They attack with three forwards, and they're all a bit bigger than we are," Traylor said. "We're going to have to be really good in the air and be smart about how our smaller backs handle these big forwards."\nThe strategy to defend against taller teams is simple, sophomore forward Brian Ackley said.\n"We just jump higher," he said. "We want it more."\nTraylor said while the Broncos have a height advantage, it is not as beneficial as playing on home turf.\n"I think they have a lot more adversity traveling from the west coast here and playing in the cold weather," Traylor said. \nFreitag agreed the home-field advantage is important.\n"It's always nice to be at home, sleep in your own bed," he said. "You have your fans there. You don't have to worry about jet lag and all that stuff. It's nice -- that's why we work so hard in the season"