No. 4 Notre Dame to host No. 12 IU

Rarely does a season get easier as it progresses, and that certainly is not the case for the IU men’s soccer team. After knocking off No. 9 Northwestern, the Hoosiers head north to South Bend to take on No. 4 Notre Dame on Wednesday in the final of three consecutive road games. \nJunior midfielder Brad Ring said he is looking forward to a good showing from the Hoosiers, despite some of the recent tough losses.\n“We’re feeling pretty good,” Ring said. “We had a slip against Louisville, but we stepped it back up again to where we can play against Northwestern, so hopefully we’re back on track.”\nIn their last match, the No. 12 Hoosiers defeated Northwestern 1-0 in Evanston, Ill. Freshman midfielder Daniel Kelly scored the lone goal at the 25:46 mark off of an assist from junior midfielder Billy Weaver. It was Kelly’s third goal of the season and second game-winning goal this term. Kelly is third on the list of top scorers for IU below sophomore midfielder Eric Alexander and junior forward Kevin Noschang, who are tied with four apiece. \nJunior goalkeeper Chay Cain tallied his fifth shutout this season. He is the first goalkeeper to shut out Northwestern this season.\nLast season’s showdown between the Hoosiers and the Fighting Irish was both exciting and disappointing. Notre Dame’s Joseph Lapira netted four goals – including the game winner in a 5-9 overtime victory for the Fighting Irish.\nSophomore defender Ofori Sarkodie said he knows Lapira is a threat, but feels his team is ready for the challenge.\n“He’s a talented player,” Sarkodie said. “You definitely have to give him that recognition. But we’ve trained hard since the Louisville loss and corrected some things against Northwestern. We’re feeling confident, defensively and offensively.”\nThe Hoosiers have an all-time record of 23-5-2 against the Fighting Irish, and IU coach Mike Freitag thinks his team is capable of adding another win to its record.\n“I know what my team can do,” Freitag said. “If we come to play, we’ll have a \ngood performance.”