IU tries to avoid same pattern

Could the 2012 IU men’s soccer season end in the same fashion as 2010 and 2011?

In each of IU Coach Todd Yeagley’s first two seasons, the Hoosiers earned an NCAA Tournament seed in the mid-teens and a first-round bye. Both years, Indiana defeated its second-round opponent by at least three goals then lost by one goal to the eventual national champions.

The Hoosiers’ pursuit of their eighth national title begins in 2012 with the No. 16 seed and a first-round bye. They will host the winner of the Xavier-Kentucky matchup at 1 p.m. Sunday.

If they win that game, the Hoosiers will likely face Notre Dame, the No. 1 seed.

Senior goalkeeper Luis Soffner said the Hoosiers cannot afford to speculate how their seed may have changed if, for example, they defeated Louisville.

“You can always go back and look at things could've, should've happened,” he said. “Right now, we’re at a point where we try to put everything in the past. We’re just more excited that we got a first-round bye. It’s nice to get a little bit more rest and know that we’re going to the second round already.

“In years past, we kind of liked being in this position, getting that first game under our belt, then going off and playing one of the higher seeds. We like where we’re at.”

Junior defender Matt McKain said the team is fortunate to be in this position given that it ended the year 1-3-1.

“We figured we’d have a home game, but it’s exciting to get the bye,” he said. “We knew we were a bubble team to get a seed, and we were just really fortunate to get that 16th seed.”

Yeagley said a team goal is to be seeded in the tournament.

“A couple results late in the season really pushed us,” he said. “Maybe we could’ve been a top eight (team), but you don’t look back. There’s nothing you can do right now except continue to stress the positives and where you need to be better. We’re really honest with our group. We know what’s necessary to get them focused. We gotta go out and demonstrate that Sunday.”

Xavier will play Kentucky at 7 p.m. Thursday to determine the Hoosiers’ first opponent. Yeagley and his two assistants, Brian Maisonneuve and Ernie Yarborough, will make the trip to Lexington, Ky., to scout the game.

“You see things off the ball that you can’t see in a video,” Yeagley said. “We’ll see how they want to play that you can’t tell if you’re not there live.”

Soffner said he hopes the Hoosiers could catch the game streaming online.

“I know a lot of guys are interested because we played a good Kentucky team already,” he said. “That was one of the better games we played all season. Xavier’s a good program too. No matter who wins, we know we can’t take either of the teams lightly. We’re looking forward to seeing the outcome.”

McKain said he doesn’t think it really matters who the Hoosiers play Sunday. Indiana’s match will be their first in 11 days.

McKain also said the break is a good thing for the Hoosiers.

“It’s definitely a benefit to get guys some rest, and a couple extra days off,” he said. “When we were in the season, we had a couple games a week. It’s nice to have a 10-day break.”

Soffner said he and his teammates are using this time to return to the basics.

“When you do the little things right, the bigger, more important, things will come,” he said. “I think we’re focused on getting re-energized and getting our minds right again.”