Hoosiers host Billikens in 1st home game of spring exhibition season

After coming off a tough road loss to Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew last weekend, the IU men’s soccer team is ready to take the field for the second time this spring.\nThe Hoosiers host the St. Louis Billikens at 6 p.m. Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\nWhile last week’s game resulted in the team’s first loss of the spring exhibition season, the Hoosiers are proud of their showing and are hoping to feed off that energy as they head into the weekend.\n“We’ve had good practices all week,” said freshman midfielder Eric Alexander. “We’ve just come off a pretty close 1-0 game to a professional team, so that was an uplifter for our spirits.”\nIU has faced the Billikens in the past, losing a game last fall in St. Louis.\n“St. Louis is always a very competent team,” IU coach Mike Freitag said. “We know it will be a challenge again.”\nAlthough the Billikens won the last meeting between the two schools, IU might have a leg up this time. At the end of its season, St. Louis lost a whopping seven players to the MLS draft and graduation. IU lost only four.\nLast week’s game against the Crew was a good learning experience for the Hoosiers. But sophomore midfielder John Mellencamp said it will be nice to gauge themselves against a team playing at the same level. \n“I feel like the team is pretty excited to play someone other than ourselves,” he said. “We just want to play another college team to see how we’ve been progressing throughout the spring.”\nLike most teams, the Hoosiers always want to win. But both the team and the coaching staff know the spring season is meant for team growth and individual improvement.\n“Every time you play, you get to know each other a little bit better, and I think that’s what I want this spring,” Freitag said. “At least have some understanding of each other before going into next fall.”\nAlexander can attest to the team’s growing solidification. “We have good team chemistry right now.”\nMellencamp said he is ready to perform under the lights of Bill Armstrong Stadium.\n“I’m definitely excited to have some of our fans come out and root us on while we try to take it to another team,” he said.