How this IU men’s soccer team will be remembered will have a lot to do with how it fares in the next few weeks.
After a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win over Northwestern, the Hoosiers advanced to the semifinals to face No. 18 Wisconsin. Every game from here on out is an elimination game. Because of that, the focus of the team has to be sharp.
IU Coach Todd Yeagley has been here before. What changes? Nothing. He says the message he has preached throughout the season on staying focused won’t change.
“We preach it everyday in our training, so it’s not a big change in the message,” Yeagley said. “You have to live it. You can’t just talk about it.”
The Hoosiers seem to be a shoe-in for the NCAA Tournament. What they are still fighting for is to be as high of a top-16 seed as possible. A top-16 seed would give IU a first round bye and home game in the second round, as well as home games up to and including the quarterfinals as long as they continue to be the higher seed in the matchup.
Focusing on the next game and not looking past an opponent sounds cliché. It is. But Yeagley knows that’s what will breed success. They could look forward to the Big Ten Championship, but without a win in the semifinal, there won’t be a championship for them to look forward to.
“I think the mindset of our team is pretty good,” IU sophomore midfielder Trevor Swartz said. “Everyone in that locker room came to IU to win championships, whether it’s Big Ten or National Championships. We’re excited, and we’ll be ready.”
In last season’s Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers went out in the semifinals to Maryland. The match was tied 1-1, but IU ended up losing in penalty kicks. This season, they drew back in September. The players know there is a chance Maryland could be waiting for them in the championship match. However, they must focus on Wisconsin.
“We say ‘every moment, every practice, everyday you need to get better,’” Yeagley said. “It’s not about the next game it’s about now. Our team is locked in. Every game is a title game in this situation and you can’t hide around that. If you don’t get a result, you go home.”
A group that has really been dialed in all season long has been the defense. They have 10 clean sheets on the season, and IU junior Grant Lillard has had a lot to do with that.
The entire backline has really upped its game this season and powered the Hoosiers to just one loss overall and none in conference play. IU’s offense will win it some games, and it has, but for this season to be special the defense will need to keep performing at a high level.
“Our backline has been fantastic all year long and even my past year as well,” IU sophomore forward Austin Panchot said. “We have a great core group of guys and we can always count on them to keep us in the game. It’s something we’re really confident about and really helps to get mojo going offensively too since we know we’re going to get stops and get the ball back.”
At this time of year, legacies are made. Teams have a chance to put their names in the record books. The Hoosiers have reached the pinnacle eight times in their history and are looking for their ninth in 2016.
The pressure of this time of year can drag a team down. Every game matters. Yeagley, however, says that pressure doesn’t faze his team.
“Pressure is fine, we can deal with pressure,” Yeagley said. “You have to talk about it so they understand how focus and locked in they need to be, but knowing that there is no gimees to the next round in our conference nor anything in the NCAAs. It’s a easy message for our team to absorb.”
