The Big Ten standings are tight heading into the final day of the regular season, and the IU men’s soccer team is right in the middle of it.
Maryland locked up the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament, and the remaining seven spots will be decided Sunday with all games being played at 1 p.m. IU currently sits fourth in the conference standings and faces second-place Michigan State in the last game of the season.
With 18 different scenarios involving the Hoosiers and their placement in the Big Ten tournament, the only one they need to know is if they win they earn a first-round game at home.
“This is a huge game Sunday,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “Huge implications for our Big Ten seeding and for postseason maneuvering. This group is really confident, they’re having fun and it was a really good week of training.”
If IU can knock off Michigan State at home and Penn State loses against Northwestern on Sunday, IU will have the two seed in the tournament. If Penn State wins, however, IU will be the three seed.
If IU can’t defeat Michigan State on Senior Day, then it’ll have to hit the road in the first round.
One senior that will be celebrating his final regular season game at Yeagley Field will be goalkeeper Christian Lomeli. After sitting on the bench the first 14 games of the season, Yeagley threw Lomeli into the starting lineup at Wisconsin two games ago.
“Given the Big Ten tournament coming up and the possibility of an NCAA tournament run, I was excited as can be to hop in goal,” Lomeli said. “I’m just kind of blessed to be in this situation.”
Lomeli recorded two shutouts in his first two starts, but he will have a much tougher task ahead of him against Michigan State.
Michigan State checks in at No. 13 in the nation this week and is coming off its biggest win of the year after defeating No. 12 Notre Dame on Tuesday on the road, 1-0.
Since falling at No. 1 Maryland on Sept. 23, Michigan State has won seven of its last nine games with a loss to Penn State being the only negative result in that span.
Yeagley said the reason Lomeli replaced fellow senior goalkeeper in net wasn’t performance. Rather, it was meant to ignite a spark on the field for the rest of the players.
Senior midfielder Tanner Thompson will be one of seven seniors being honored Sunday afternoon. After his first career hat trick against St. Louis, Thompson said he’s ready to take that momentum into the game against Michigan State.
“We just have the same game plan, and if we get chances we just have to be clinical in our decision making in the final third,” Thompson said. “The main goal at the end of the day is whoever scores more goals, so we need to make sure we’re clinical in our moments and take advantage of those opportunities.”
Yeagley said he liked the way his team responded since Lomeli has been back in goal.
“I like the feel of the team. I like the way they’re playing, the finishing,” Yeagley said. “We’re going to need to play like that this time of the year to beat Michigan State and the teams that come after them on the way to a championship.”
