After a near 13-month hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, IU men’s soccer is finally taking the field once again Friday, beginning its spring season.
Before the Hoosiers take the field, here are three things you should know.
This is the program’s first spring season
Kickoff against Wisconsin on Friday will mark the first spring season in program history.
“It feels a little strange to be in a preseason in February heading into a game, but it is what it is,” head coach Todd Yeagley said in a press conference Tuesday.
In September, the NCAA announced that fall sports, with the exception of football, would be moved back to the spring.
This means IU will have to face Indiana’s winter weather. Due to inclement weather in Bloomington, the first game of the season was moved from Bill Armstrong Stadium to Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.
Instead of facing the cold weather at the end of the season as it would in a normal year, IU will deal with the cold as it starts the season.
“It’s all about how we approach it,” Yeagley said. “I know our guys will be ready for the task, as ready as you can be without having played a game in almost a year.”
IU will look to rotate in its youth
With such an unorthodox season, Yeagley said he doesn’t quite know what kind of team he has yet.
The long offseason created an unprecedented training regimen for IU, including Kahoot quizzes in March and indoor practices in December.
Yeagley said the team has been mentally preparing for the season, but he won’t know how they mesh together until he sees them work through a live-game situation.
While experienced players like seniors Spencer Glass and A.J. Palazzolo will lead IU, there will be plenty of underclassmen contributing as well.
Sophomore Victor Bezerra, IU’s leading scorer from last season, is expected to take a step forward as a leader on IU’s strikeforce.
The Hoosiers will also have to replace Big Ten Defender of the Year Jack Maher, who was drafted second overall by Nashville Soccer Club in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
Yeagley said it’ll take a few players to fill Maher’s void on defense, but sophomore Daniel Munie and junior Nyk Sessock will be the main ones stepping in.
Wisconsin might look different from last season
The Hoosiers defeated the Badgers 3-1 in their last matchup in Sept. 2019, but Yeagley said he doesn’t expect the same Wisconsin team to come to Westfield on Friday. Yeagley said Wisconsin was dealing with injuries that kept several normal starters out of the game and expects to see only two or three of the same starters this year.
Goalkeeper Dean Crowdey started all 17 games in net for the Badgers last season, but he and two of their main defenders graduated.
After having plenty of time to prepare for this first game, both teams will be looking to find the rotations that work best for them.
