IU attempts to climb out of cellar

IU coach Mick Lyon has never missed a Big Ten Conference tournament since he began coaching the Hoosiers, but this year he and his team are in danger of breaking the streak.

The Hoosiers (6-10-1, 1-6-1) finish up their regular season with two matches this weekend. At 7:30 p.m. Friday the Hoosiers host Michigan State, and at 2 p.m. Sunday they play Michigan. Both games will take place at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

IU currently sits in 11th place in the Big Ten – bad news because only the top eight teams make the conference tournament.

To further complicate tournament chances, one of the teams IU must beat is ninth-place Iowa. The Hawkeyes get an automatic bid for next weekend because they will be host to the tournament.

Lyon knows he can’t control the outcomes of the other matches this weekend, so he’s trying to keep his team focused on winning both games.

“They are only focusing on what they can do, because if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain and win two games, it doesn’t really matter what everyone else does,” the seventh-year coach said. “Surely over the weekend they will look at other people’s results, but they just need to take care of what’s here on Yeagley Field.”

Lyon’s teams have been in this position in the past, and he said this time can be thrilling.

“It can make games exciting, because it’s a win-or-go-home type thing,” he said. “We’ll be coming out with an attitude that we are going to win two games on the weekend.”

Winning both games over the weekend will definitely improve the Hoosiers’ chances for the tournament, but the players aren’t getting ahead of themselves.

“At least in the past, I think we have freaked ourselves out saying, ‘We have to win this game,’” junior defender Kelly Lawrence said. “I think if we go at each game just worrying about that game, I think we can win them.”

The one game the Hoosiers have to take care of first is against Michigan State. The Spartans lead the conference in total points with 137, 49 points more than the second-place team. They also lead the conference in goals scored with 44, 14 more than the next team behind them.

Anchoring that high-powered offense is two-time Michigan Miss Soccer and two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, freshman Laura Heyboer. She leads the conference with 18 goals, averaging a goal a game. Trailing her in goals is junior teammate Lauren Hill with 11 goals.

Junior defender Jessica Boots said she thinks the Hoosiers are up to the challenge in trying to stop the Spartan offense.

“I think it will be good,” she said. “I think we just need to not let them get the ball. If they get it, we stay on them tight. We can’t let them shoot.”

Lawrence points to the season thus far to show how good the Hoosiers’ defense can be.

“I think we’ve proven in the Big Ten if anyone scores on us or beats us, it’s going to be one goal,” she said. “We have held teams with only seven shots. So as a defense we are going to do our part to keep those shots as minimal as possible and hope our forwards can do us a favor and get some goals.”