Hoosiers begin conference play, face Buckeyes

At the beginning of the 2012 men’s soccer season, senior co-captain goalkeeper Luis Soffner spoke about the team’s camaraderie.

“I think that we’re playing really well,” Soffner said. “I think the camaraderie is still there. We’ve had our ups and downs throughout games, but I think that we’re starting to put longer stretches together. Hopefully we can turn it into full games going into Big Ten play.”

Senior midfielder Joe Tolen said the team likes to think of the Big Ten phase as a whole separate season. With the change in season comes a change in seeding possibilities and hardware.

“Big Ten is a whole different level,” Tolen said. “Of course every game is important from an RPI perspective, but once we start playing those games, nothing beats it because we’re playing for a trophy. We want that trophy, and we want to get a good seed for the Big Ten tournament which, in turn, provides us with a better opportunity to win another trophy by setting us up for the NCAA tournament.”

An opening away game against Ohio State could be a test for the Hoosiers, who have had only one true away game nearly a month ago against St. Louis.

“We were home on Friday, and going out to Columbus to open conference play will just be another challenge we’ll have to face,” Soffner said. “We will be playing a good Ohio State team at their place. It will be a good test for us.”

The away atmosphere won’t be the only challenge for the Hoosiers to overcome.

Heading into this weekend, the Buckeyes return two scorers from last year: Sebastian Rivas and Kenny Cunningham.

These scorers each split the goal lead with freshmen Louie Berra and Alex Bujenovic with two apiece.

Although he has not netted a goal this season, Chris Hegngi will provide the Buckeyes with opportunities as well.

Last year, the forward scored a third of the Buckeyes’ goals while being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

Like the Hoosiers, the Buckeyes like to close late in the game. This season, the Buckeyes have notched two goals in the first half with seven coming in the second half. They have also netted once in extra time.

“We know we’re going to get the Big Ten’s best every game no matter who we are playing,” Soffner said. “It’s definitely a heightened game in physicality and mentality, so I know we’re looking forward to it. Our mental and physical edge going into this weekend is going to look a bit stronger.”

For the Hoosiers, this weekend’s matchup against the Buckeyes has a personal tie to some of the senior leaders.

In 2007, the Hoosiers earned the conference championship, but the Buckeyes took the tournament title.

In 2009, the Buckeyes won the conference championship and then came to Bloomington and took the tournament title from the host Hoosiers.

For Tolen, it will be a team effort this season to avenge those two events in the postseason relationship of the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers.

“Once we have that goal in mind and everyone gets behind it, that is what it is all about,” Tolen said.