Yeagley continues IU soccer tradition

Growing up with the program would have been a dream for many young soccer fans in the state of Indiana. IU Coach Todd Yeagley lived that dream. As soccer took its first steps in a basketball state, so too did the soccer program in Bloomington.

Started in 1947, the program was initially a club sport. But under the tenure of Yeagley's father Jerry beginning in 1963, the Hoosiers eventually reached a varsity level in 1973. In its first decade of existence, the team reached the College Cup five times, grabbing national hardware twice.

After make the return seven out of the eight opportunities between 1997 and 2004, the Hoosiers had not been back since. Coaching changes and the growth of the sport at other universities to blame, the Hoosiers are holding nothing back in their return to the College Cup final this year in Hoover, Ala. following a semifinal victory over No. 12 Creighton.

Following the match, Jose Gomez, a recently named NSCAA first-team All-American, mentioned how difficult it was facing this Hoosier pressure.

“It was hard for us to move because they pressured too much,” he said.  “But it’s something we dealt with all year.  We couldn’t today.

“It was disappointing, but that’s how soccer is. They were the better team today.”

The defensive performance from the Hoosiers is what Yeagley liked to call the “backbone” of the IU program.

“We pressured at the right times and took away what they could,” he said. “We took away arguably one of the best players in the country by limiting his chances tonight.  That was team effort, not one or two players — a team effort.

“That’s a sign of a championship caliber performance, and it has been a backbone of our program through these years.”

This postseason the Hoosiers have been performing very well defensively. They are outscoring their opponents 8-2 while senior goalkeeper Luis Soffner currently has two shutouts in a row in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

“There is a fight and a belief in this team that is special, and they’re really united,” Yeagley said. “They are playing for each other and what you saw in that last 12 minutes when they were pushing a lot of players forward; there was a resiliency.”

Following the semifinal, Yeagley spoke of the mark these players are leaving on the IU program. He said as long as each player leaves their own mark then they have fulfilled their responsibility to the program.

That responsibility has been tied to Yeagley for a lifetime. First growing up as the coach’s son; then becoming player under his father; then becoming an assistant under his father; to finally taking the reigns as head coach — bringing the program back to where it once was.

“With tradition comes responsibility,” he said. “I see that and I think about myself everyday, and it’s emotional. With the times growing up and my father starting it — I’m just happy to see his smiling face in the back again.”