Men's soccer wins 14th Big Ten regular season crown

Sunday evening was different.

Two other times this season, IU won 3-2. One of those times, IU rallied from behind for a comeback.

When IU played Northwestern on Sunday to try to clinch the Big Ten regular season title, the team came across some of the same mistakes it made in previous games.

But Sunday evening was different.

The members of the Cage have blown vuvuzelas. They’ve cheered on their team, called names at the opponents and debated with the referees.

But Sunday evening was different.

Go show those students how much they mean to you, IU coach Todd Yeagley told his team.

The players ran toward the Cage, donning their gray shirts and hats, emblazoned with the words “Big Ten Champions.”

The team and the Cage cheered as one.

“We had our backs against the wall, (trailing) 2-0 with a chance to win the Big Ten, and we rose to the occasion, and we took it to them 3-2 the second half,” junior forward Will Bruin said.

A first-half Northwestern goal and another Wildcat score 17 seconds into the second half seemed like a knockout for the Hoosiers. But Bruin came to IU’s rescue once again, scoring on a cross from senior midfielder Andy Adlard.

Nine minutes later, he received a forward pass from junior forward Alec Purdie. He charged toward the goal, and when it looked as if it was too late to score, he tacked on his second goal of the game.

IU celebrated a 3-2 victory after sophomore midfielder Joe Tolen scored his second career goal in the 80th minute.

But Sunday was different. Before the start of the game, teammate and fellow goalkeeper sophomore Luis Soffner gave junior goalkeeper Nate Mitchell tips on how to deal with the sun in a 5 p.m. game.

“He said, ‘You really got to be careful that last 20 minutes of the first half on (the east) end because the sun’s below your visor,’” Mitchell said.

At the start of the game, Mitchell had spent 135 minutes in goal in 2010 compared to Soffner’s 1,271 minutes.

“The biggest thing that the coaches have talked about is that somebody’s got to be ready to play, whether it’s Luis or myself or Taylor or Bristol,” Mitchell said. “Maybe I don’t have a lot of minutes on the field, but I work hard in practice every day to make sure if I do have to go in, I’m ready to play and get a result for our team.”

In the second start of his career, Mitchell got the result. He played the full 90 minutes, diving for six saves. At the end of the game, Soffner embraced Mitchell in a bear hug.

“Those two are good friends, and they help each other,” Yeagley said. “It’s a special relationship with those two. They really cheer for each other. They know the decision is in the staff, and they embrace it and say, ‘You know what, if it’s your night, go at it.’”

There are game-winning celebrations. But Sunday was a title-winning celebration. All 30 players celebrated the 14th Big Ten title in program history, a title IU hasn’t won since 2007.

“We’re going to ride this,” Yeagley said. “This is the time of year when you need to have a bounce in your step, and we need it.”

“We’re going to enjoy this, and we’re going to get back to work. They’re going to want to work. We’ve got more to do.”

It was the first title under a new era. Bruin screamed this title wouldn’t be the only one of the season.

“We’ve got one more coming,” Bruin said, smiling.