Maurey, a graduate transfer from Brown University, seemed pretty upbeat about playing his first competitive match for the Hoosiers this Friday against St.John’s.
After Wednesday’s training session, Maurey exhibited a quiet confidence that the team will perform well.
“It’s the first time for me to prove something for this team, but this is the first time where it’s a full game,” Maurey said. “It’s a Friday night game. It’s going to be a great crowd and a great atmosphere.”
The 6-foot-5 forward has already scored his first goal for IU during a preseason exhibition game against Valparaiso, but goals are not the only facet of his game he should be judged by.
IU Coach Todd Yeagley has set an informal target of 10 goals for his new forward after the preseason win over Western Michigan.
Despite this target goal, Yeagley also acknowledges that the former Bears forward brings so much more than goals to the Hoosiers’ offense.
“Ben’s a smart player. He’s got both IQ and soccer IQ,” Yeagley said. “He allows plays to develop just a little bit longer — he’s a good finisher, but I think he’s more of a set-up guy.”
Even as a forward, Maurey’s first thoughts are not the number of goals he’ll be scoring.
His first thoughts are with the team, and he intends to help out in any way possible.
Some of the ways in which Maurey can contribute are by either using his physicality to hold the play up or by simply drawing markers out and making space for the trio of attackers playing just behind him.
The former Bears soccer captain has quickly built chemistry with his new teammates and is confident that the different abilities each IU offensive player possesses will combine well to cause problems for any opposition.
“We have big guys like me and Femi, and we have Tanner, who is very creative,” Maurey said, “We also have guys on the wing like Phil who are very pacey and can get it down and whip it in, so I think it will be very tough for defenses to stop every single option that we have.”
Beyond the team, Maurey has also set some lofty targets for himself this season.
The Bears are traditionally a more defensive-minded team, as witnessed by the amount of shutouts they had last season.
The Hoosiers men’s soccer team tends to favor a more possession-based attacking game, an approach that excites Maurey.
With the attacking talent Maurey has displayed, coupled with IU’s style of play, Maurey is shooting to be this year’s first team All Big Ten and hopes he will be the best striker on a team hoping to end the season with a Big Ten Championship title.
“I mean it’s my first year, I don’t really know what the competition is like, but I like to set lofty goals for myself,” Maurey said. “I like to push myself and be the best.”
Besides what he brings on the field, Yeagley is also happy with Maurey’s personality and is hoping his character will benefit the team in the long run.
“We did our homework on him as a person and it was resounding and as a captain of Brown, that says a lot,” Yeagley said. “Ivy kids are usually really, really good teammates in general, if you had to kind of do a generalization.”
