No. 8 Hoosiers to play New Mexico in Fort Wayne exhibition game

This weekend, the IU men’s soccer team will play their only preseason exhibition game of the 2007 season. The Hoosiers will take on the University of New Mexico in Fort Wayne, the first meeting between the two teams in nearly three years. The teams last met on the pitch in 2004, when the Hoosiers lost to the \nLobos 1-0.\nRecently ranked eighth in the nation by College Soccer News, the Hoosiers hope to start their season off with a win. Although this game is only an exhibition match, it is a chance for the newest members of the team to show IU coach Mike Freitag they belong on the field. \n“The freshmen are looking really good,” said junior midfielder Brian Ackley. “I think they realized within the first few days that IU soccer is competitive.” \nFreitag agreed, saying the freshmen have been impressive at practices. \n“They’re very good. I’m very happy with all of them,” he said. “They’re going to make IU soccer better.”\nExpectations are high for the Hoosiers this season. In addition to being named eighth, the freshman recruiting class was named second in the nation, and the team was picked to win the Big Ten. \nAlthough these predictions are important, sophomore back/midfielder Kevin Alston said those expectations are not changing the way the team prepares for the season.\n“(The rankings) are just other people’s opinions and predictions,” Alston said. “It’s more important that we focus on our own goals.”\nThis weekend’s game will be a good gauge for the team to see not only where individual players stack up, but how the squad performs against new competition. \n“I want to see how my team can compete,” Freitag said. “I like what I see in practice, but practice is practice.”\nDespite the fact that the team has only been practicing together since Aug. 15, Freitag said the players already have great team chemistry and should play a cohesive game this weekend.\n“It’s a team,” Freitag said. “I feel very good about this group of young men.”