This week has been different for the Hoosiers. For the first time since 2012, they didn’t spend Thanksgiving with family.
IU has been preparing all week for its Round of 16 matchup Sunday at Wake Forest, which means practicing when most students have left Bloomington. It’s strange, IU Coach Todd Yeagley said.
Bloomington is calm like the player’s schedules because school is out, so the atmosphere around the team is quiet and relaxed ahead of what might be the biggest match of the season.
“There’s no time of the year where you have this kind of calmness around what’s about to happen,” Yeagley said. “The guys get a lot of time to spend together. I think you learn more about your teammates during this week and it’s kind of a bonding week. It’s cool to have that time together.”
During preseason camp, there also are no classes to deal with. But during the preseason the team practices twice a day, trying to prepare for the season in the little amount of time that they have. This week, the Hoosiers practiced at noon every day to get used to playing at that time for Sunday, before having the rest of the day for themselves.
The end result is a calm team when the tendency is to stress. This calmness is the key, senior forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen said. Hollinger-Janzen and junior midfielder Richard Ballard are the only two active players on the team who also played on IU’s national championship team in 2012, the last time the team spent Thanksgiving week in Bloomington.
Senior midfielder Kyle Sparks was also on that team but is out for the rest of the season because of a surgery on his leg and junior defender Derek Creviston redshirted in 2012.
“A lot of players and teams get tense in this time of the season,” Hollinger-Janzen said. “But you have to just stay relaxed and know what you have to do and what your team has to do to advance to the next level. Just staying poised and having fun.”
IU will be playing Wake Forest, the top-ranked team in the tournament on Sunday. But the Deamon Deacons are not the same team that earned themselves the top seed.
Senior forward Michael Gamble has not played for Wake Forest since injuring himself in a 5-0 win against Georgia State on Oct. 20. The forward had six goals and two assists this season.
Wake Forest, normally a team that controls the game, was not in control of the game in its 1-0 second round win against Charlotte last weekend. It took an 83rd minute goal to win in a game that saw equal chances for both teams and that saw Wake Forest outshot for the first time this season.
“Based on feedback from others that was not a great performance by Wake Forest,” Yealgey said. “We’re expecting a different team than what we saw against Charlotte.”
Even without Gamble, the Deamon Deacons are still explosive going forward. They are led by freshman midfielder Andrew Harrison, who was name the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and the ACC Freshman of the Year. Harrison is the first player in ACC history to win both awards in the same season.
Harrison has eight goals and 11 assists this season. His goals would be tied for the lead on IU's team and his assists surpass any other IU player’s total.
Still, the Hoosiers — especially their defense — remain calm and confident about getting the result they need Sunday.
“We’re a very confident group at the back. Every single game we think we’re going to be able to get a shutout,” sophomore defender Grant Lillard said. “There’s no doubt in our minds that we’re going to be able to get a shutout against Wake Forest on Sunday.”
