Hoosier Classic tournament returns to Bloomington

The women’s soccer Hoosier Classic Tournament makes a return this weekend after a five-year hiatus as the IU women’s soccer team plays St. John’s on Friday and Central Michigan on Sunday.

St. John’s and Central Michigan will be joined by Ohio State to make up the field that IU Coach Amy Berbary said she believes is strong.

“We are bringing in three very good teams,” Berbary said. “We don’t know any of them very well. We really just need to focus on it not too much as a tournament as it is just single games.”

The weekend tournament consists of two games for each team. A win earns three points, and a tie earns one point. Goals scored and least goals conceded will function as tiebreakers.

A trophy will be awarded for the winning team, and an all-tournament team will be announced as well.

Sophomore forward Kayleigh Steigerwalt said she believes a win would help the Hoosiers build confidence going into the Big Ten Conference schedule.

“Winning the tournament would give us a good confidence boost heading into the big season,” Steigerwalt said. “It will give us a range of where we are.”

IU plays St. John’s at 6 p.m. Friday in the first game. The Red Storm enter the game undefeated while outscoring opponents 21-1.

Berbary said she expects St. John’s to give IU’s defense a challenge.

“They’re good,” Berbary said. “They have a very sophisticated offensive attack that will really test our team defending.”

St. John’s offense is led by sophomore Rachel Daly, the nation’s leading scorer. Daly has recorded 11 of the team’s 21 goals in six games and was recently named Big East Player of the Week.

Senior defender Lara Ross said she expects Daly and the Red Storm to come out attacking.

“We have got to be on our toes and ready from the start,” Ross said. “We definitely have to watch (Daly). It is important to maintain everything that we’ve been doing and working on in the season so far.”

Steigerwalt and the rest of the offense are going to be focused on staying ahead of St. John’s high-powered offense.

“We are going to do our best to make sure we come out ahead,” Sterigerwalt said. “Getting early goals would be great for us and great for our confidence.”

In Sunday’s game, IU will face a Central Michigan squad that enters the tournament winless on the season, which Berbary said she believes has a lot to do with the team’s difficult schedule.

Despite not having any wins, Berbary said she believes the Chippewas will be dangerous.

“They have had more experience than we do playing very, very good teams,” Berbary said, including Portland and Washington. “That experience alone, even though they didn’t win those games, helped their program.”

IU will begin Big Ten play next weekend at home against Minnesota. Berbary wants to keep IU’s early season momentum alive heading into the conference schedule.

“We’ve got momentum right now,” Berbary said. “The question is carrying this momentum and not having a lapse in what we are trying to do.”

Follow reporter Sam Beishuizen on Twitter @Sam_Beishuizen.