Hoosiers to face Wildcats in tournament rematch

Less than two weeks ago, if they’d been able to block that last goal with five minutes to go, the IU men’s soccer team would have the Big Ten regular season trophy.

IU played Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., in its second-to-last regular season game of the year and was ahead 2-1 against the eventual regular season conference champion when a costly goal pushed the game to a tie.

In the end, this goal could have been the lone difference between a regular season title and the No. 4 seed, which the Hoosiers tout going into Friday’s Big Ten tournament semifinal match against the Wildcats, who received first-round bye.

“That game is definitely fresh on our minds,” senior Alec Purdie said. “It’s very similar to Michigan State, who we played late in the season and let a win slip away, but we got them back on Wednesday, and we’re looking to get what we feel we should have gotten in Evanston — a win.”

The Hoosiers know all too well that the advantage of a regular season title coming with a first-round bye in the conference tournament doesn’t always help.

After capturing the 2010 regular season title, IU lost its first game of the conference tournament, a semifinal match against Penn State, which some players attributed to not having the feel of the tournament already under their belts.

Zavaleta said he thinks IU is in the perfect position to pull an upset against Northwestern this year.

“Yeah, they may have fresher legs than us, but we kinda feel like they stole the regular season title out from under us,” Zavaleta said. “We’re going to go in with the mindset that we’re going to steal it back, and we’ve already played in the stadium and the atmosphere, and I think that really will help us.”

Purdie agreed, saying that if he and his teammates play as they did for the first 85 minutes back in Evanston, they should see themselves in the championship match on Sunday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“There’s nothing we need to change. We simply let one slip away from us,” Purdie said. “We’re not worried playing the number one team because we know we can play with them.”

The defensive mishaps that plagued them against Northwestern have seemed to improve the last two games. IU shutout Ohio State for only the fourth time in the Buckeyes’ season, preventing them from capturing a Big Ten title.

Against Michigan State on Wednesday, the Hoosiers had the Spartans scoreless for 81 minutes before giving up a score.

They were able to keep a 2-0 lead, something which the team has struggled with this year, and Zavaleta said he feels that gave his team the boost they needed.

“We’re coming in with confidence on Friday,” Zavaleta said. “We’ve just got to not beat ourselves, and we’re going to win games.”