Men's soccer earns first-round bye in NCAA Tournament

Apparently the eighth-toughest schedule in the country pays off.

Despite a two-game losing streak and an early exit from the Big Ten Tournament last weekend, the Hoosiers earned the No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which comes with a guaranteed home game and a first-round bye.

“We were kind of on the border on whether we would be seeded or not,” sophomore goalkeeper Luis Soffner said at the team’s selection viewing on Monday at Yogi’s Grill & Bar. “Obviously it was a nice little surprise. It was a little disappointing coming off the (Big Ten) Tournament at Penn State, so now we’re just getting refocused again.”

The Hoosiers have a 6 p.m. date at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Sunday with the winner of Thursday night’s Bradley-Tulsa game.

“We know the field will be good, the conditions will be good,” coach Todd Yeagley said. “There’s a comfort. All those things considered, we know that being at home is a big thing.”

ESPNU analyst Taylor Twellman called the Hoosiers’ quadrant of the bracket the “Bracket of Death.” The competition in IU’s draw includes No. 3 seed Akron, No. 6 seed California and No. 11 seed Connecticut.

“I thought that was pretty funny when he said that,” Soffner said. “Obviously having Akron in the group, and potentially we could be playing them kind of early, that could definitely be fun. We look at it as more of a challenge being seen as a ‘Bracket of Death,’ or whatever they call it.”

IU went 5-6 on the year against the 10 teams in the tournament from its schedule this season. In the preseason, the Hoosiers went 1-1-1 against Duke, Xavier and Denver — all tournament teams.

“I do feel our bracket is as tough or tougher than anyone’s out there,” Yeagley said. “Looking at it quickly, I do feel that we have a tough one. But really, I don’t care how you slice it, this time of year every game is exciting and tough.”

Tough path or not, Yeagley said this is why IU schedules difficult teams in the regular season.

“To be there at the end, you have to beat some really good teams along the way,” he said. “The path for us, we’ll be facing some really good teams. But the season prepared us for this, and our players want the challenge.”