Men's soccer loses 4th straight game

The IU men’s soccer team entered the 2013 season looking to make history. As defending national champions, the Hoosiers were attempting to become the 10th team in NCAA history to win back-to-back NCAA College Cups.

Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss to No. 7 Louisville made a different kind of history: the loss was IU’s fourth in a row, the program’s first four-game losing streak since 1985.

Playing without freshman forward Tommy Thompson, who underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee earlier that day, the Hoosiers (4-8-1)struggled to create chances offensively and were smothered by the nation’s leading defensive team. The shutout was Louisville’s seventh of the season and fifth in its last six games.

Louisville junior defender Daniel Keller scored the only goal of an uneventful first half that saw neither goalkeeper make a save.

After Louisville freshman defender Taylor Curtis’ well-struck shot was cleared off the line by senior defender Matt McKain, the Cardinals lined up for their second corner kick of the half. Sophomore forward Ricardo Velazco took the corner, swinging it in front of the IU net.

Keller was able to get enough of his head on the ball to lift an arching shot over a sea of Hoosier defenders and into the upper corner of the net.

After the goal, the first half returned to its sluggish ways, and the Hoosiers entered halftime facing a 1-0 deficit.

IU Coach Todd Yeagley said the Cardinals’ goal was a shock to his team, as he felt they had controlled much of the first half.

“The untimely goal, it’s tough,” he said. “When you control the whole first half and we feel like we had everything under control, then we get hit on a restart, which we had talked about and worked on, it’s hard because it hits you right where it hurts.”

Louisville’s Marlon Hairston doubled the Cardinal lead with 16:42 remaining in the second half.

After a brief skirmish in front of IU’s net, Louisville forward Zack Foxhoven found space and worked his way to the endline and laid the ball off to an unmarked Hairston. The sophomore forward sent a rocket over IU sophomore goalkeeper Michael Soderlund’s head and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals put the game away just two minutes and 25 seconds later with their third goal, with Hairston and Foxhoven linking up again.

Hairston weaved through the Hoosier defense, beat his man, and laid the ball off to the left for Foxhoven, whose left-footed strike effectively ended the game with 14 minutes and 17 seconds remaining.

The loss continued a losing streak that has seen the Hoosiers shut out three times in four.

Yeagley said he remains unconcerned about his team’s composure despite the season’s difficult circumstances.

“We just need to stay positive, and that’s a really difficult thing to do right now,” he said. “You keep telling them what to do, and they do so much that you want them to do, and they’re not being rewarded. That’s really hard, to keep going and to keep digging. There was no die in this team tonight. Even 3-0 down, they kept playing. I’m not worried about that; they just need to be rewarded.”

Follow reporter Alden Woods on Twitter @acw9293.