IU has finished as the No. 1 team in the country eight times.
IU has also won 12 Big Ten tournament titles and has been crowned regular season champions 14 times since the Big Ten began playing soccer in 1991.
But this season, IU is unranked nationally and picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten.
But IU Coach Todd Yeagley said IU is “one.”
“I think a big thing for us is ‘one,’” Yeagley said. “I think this group, everyone is on the same page and fighting for one another, and I think that component can really take this team somewhere.”
From an outsider’s perspective, one thing preventing IU from meshing into one unit is the addition of 13 new players coming from high schools across the country or other colleges.
Senior Patrick Doody thinks the newcomers are fitting in just fine.
“New guys looked awesome, all of them,” Doody said. “The transfers and all the freshmen were really sharp, came in fit, and the whole team was really impressed with them.”
In the two preseason games leading up to the season opener, Yeagley has used a multitude of freshmen in a variety of spots.
Freshman central defender Grant Lilliard started both preseason games thanks, in part, to his towering stature on the field.
Lilliard stands at 6-foot-4, making him the tallest player to wear the cream and crimson since goalkeeper Luis Soffner in 2012.
“He’s the piece that we need,” Yeagley said. “He brings size, and we’re not a huge team.”
Another freshman who has seen significant playing time in the preseason is Jay McIntosh at forward.
McIntosh scored 80 goals in three varsity seasons at Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo, Mich.
That goal-scoring ability is something Yeagley said will keep McInthosh in an open competition in terms of goal scoring.
Doody said he believes the team concept of “one” also applies to where the Hoosier goals will be coming from.
“I think it’s going to be across the whole board,” Doody said. “I think for us to be successful, everyone’s going to have to step up in that part of the field.”
Those expected to be present on the committee include junior Femi Hollinger-Janzen and sophomore Tanner Thompson.
Hollinger-Janzen was tied for the team lead in goals for the Hoosiers last season with five, while Yeagley said he believes Thompson is poised for a breakout season.
Not that either of them care. They just want to win together.
“I’m not really worried about the stat sheet,” Thompson said. “I’m more focused on the wins. Just whatever is going to help the team more.”
This strategy of scoring by committee is applicable to the team culture and leadership, as well.
“I don’t think we have a dominant captain,” Yeagley said. “We’ll make decisions on who the captains will be going forward. But right now, when the group’s right and it’s a committee, you don’t need a label.”
Yeagley believes the open competition the team has present up top is present at every position on the field, something that his team was lacking last season.
“We’ve had some returning players who didn’t quite have the guy who was biting at their heels as much as we needed for every position,” Yeagley said. “I think for this year we have that for about every spot.”
This competition at every practice for playing time breeds a competitive culture that Yeagley said he believes will translate to on-field success.
“I think the way that they competed and they have been competing, they can become close to one another,” Yeagley said. “But when they’re out there, they want to win every activity.”
