Four seniors to compete in their final regular season games at IU

Senior defender Chris Estridge knows the end of his college career is near, but he wants to stretch this time out as long as he possibly can.

Estridge, along with fellow seniors Alec Purdie, Tommy Meyer, Tyler McCarroll and redshirt junior Nick Blevins, have one final regular season game remaining at 1 p.m. this Saturday against Ohio State at Jerry Yeagley Field.

Meyer came highly recruited out of St. Louis University High School in Missouri with high expectations. After all, it’s in his blood. Meyer’s father, Keith, was a four-year letter winner for the Hoosiers and was a part of the 1982 and ’83 National Championship teams.

Meyer and the Hoosiers have failed to reach the College Cup in his first three years in Bloomington. Meyer said he wouldn’t go so far as to say the season would be a failure if the team doesn’t reach the final four — just a big disappointment.

“It’s something you work for, and it is a standard at IU. You need to get to final fours,” Meyer said. “Once the postseason starts, it’s basically a new season. I have to get there this year. It’s my final year.”

Growing up in Elkhart, Ind., Purdie always knew he wanted to play soccer at IU and have the responsibility that comes with donning the cream and crimson every day. Purdie said he realizes the time is now, and the Hoosiers can’t waste the great opportunity in front of them.

“If we walk away this season empty handed with all the players we have here, I definitely think it would be pretty devastating,” Purdie said. “We’re confident going into next week and the Big Ten tournament. We know we can win it. Hopefully, we can win that and take the NCAA tournament and get the eighth star.”

While the other four players playing their final games for the Hoosiers have spent their entire collegiate careers in Bloomington, Estridge has a different story. He transferred from Wake Forest after his sophomore year. Despite having spent just two years with IU, Estridge said Bloomington has had an impact on him.

“It’s been great playing with the group of guys that we have here,” Estridge said. “They were all great when I was making my transition here, and now that I’m a senior, I’ve made some really good friends on the team. That’s been one of the best parts of this.”

As the only non-senior player finishing up his time with the Hoosiers, Blevins, a Carroll, Ohio, native, said he is thankful for all the great experiences IU men’s soccer has afforded him in the last four years. “Having the opportunity to be around the prestigious talent and being around the guys, hanging out in the hotels on the weekend, that’s my favorite part,” Blevins said.

Throughout his time with the Hoosiers, McCarroll has spent a large portion of his time not only on the soccer field, but also racking up academic awards. Through the last four years, McCarroll has been named the 2009 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten as a sophomore and junior.

“I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was 8 years old,” McCarroll said. “I’m still undecided. It’s between Indiana, Rush University in Chicago and the University of Chicago.”

While only in his second season as head coach of the Hoosiers, IU Coach Todd Yeagley served as an assistant coach for the Hoosiers from 2003 to 2008. He said he has forged a special bond with these five players.

“The role as to why we are all inherently driven is to help at this pivotal age to mature and grow,” Yeagley said. “That responsibility is always at the forefront of our decisions and how we deal with them. I’m pleased on where they are. They are leaving ready for the next step.”

As the Hoosiers prepare for their final regular season home game against Ohio State and the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, Estridge knows the finality of it all will be on everyone’s mind.

“It’s that way for every senior, every year,” Estridge said. “I know that I don’t want it to end. I want to carry this thing all the way to the very end.”