Men's soccer readies for No. 25 Michigan

A few notes going into No. 18 IU’s match against No. 25 Michigan at 8 p.m. Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

What’s in a Wolverine?
Michigan (8-2-3) currently has a tie with Ohio State for the Big Ten lead. The team comes to Bloomington on a four-game winning streak, with two wins against top-25 teams. As a team that comes alive during the second half, the Wolverines have scored 15 of their 23 goals after halftime, outscoring their opponents 23-14 in total.
IU leads the all time series 13-1-1 and has a three-game winning streak in the series that dates back to 2008.

What is on the line?
A win Sunday would put IU in sole position of first place in the Big Ten. Michigan and Ohio State currently share a first place tie with 2-1-0 conference records.

At 1-0-1 in the Big Ten, a win would put the Hoosiers ahead of Ohio State. Four of IU’s last six games — including Saturday’s match — are against Big Ten opponents.

Home sweet home?
IU is 2-2-1 at home this year. They are 4-2-0 away from Bloomington, which includes a three-game winning streak.

A strong schedule
At 6-4-1, the Hoosiers are not far above .500 on the year. This record is deceiving, though, considering the team’s 4-0 record against ranked teams. Even more impressively, only one of those wins came at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

Monday marked the first RPI ranking of the year, which is a weekly evaluation of teams on how it performs against its strength of schedule. IU is No. 22 out of 204 teams. Strength of schedule is a large determinant in where a team is seeded for the NCAA Tournament.

With six games to play, IU has three against ranked teams and three in the RPI top-25.

Where there’s a Will, there’s a win
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America announced Wednesday that junior forward Will Bruin, who is second in the Big Ten and third in the NCAA in goals scored with 10 goals in 11 games, earned national player of the week honors.

Bruin also recorded his third Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor Monday after scoring twice in IU’s 3-2 upset of No. 11 Creighton on Saturday.