Aaron

Completely dumb team. Talent level was not even close and we were by far more talented team but have no sense of direction hence a loss. This program will not improve until a coaching change is made. I thought we would fall off next year but its happened this year instead. Reminds me of with Coach Jack when a team lost some of its talent from previous year after a pretty good season but still had a decent team with very good players Jamie Braun and Jori Davis as upperclassman and leaders (much like Cahill and Buss) and was very mediocre and around .500. Than they lost Braun after that year and than then Davis the next year and it kept getting so much worse each year until a change was finally made. That's where this is headed I'm afraid until we make a coaching change. Coach Moren actually recruits light years better than Coach Jack but if you can't mold the team and talent together it doesn't matter if your getting 3-5 star players instead of 0-2 star players especially if some of them transfer because they don't want to play for you.

Watching the last 2 minutes online and this team looks so much like it is coached by Crean. It has talent but is completely undisciplined. They turn the ball over twice in critical situations on possessions near end and did not D up leading to several open 3's and layups. This team has talent but may not even win as many as the men's team since they are well coached and disciplined now despite a lack of talent. To OT we go after Buss misses a FT that could of won it. Buss is usually good at being a senior leader but that was a bad moment for her.

Weren't we suppose to play UNC next year? At least that's what this article said: https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2016/09/06/iu-schedules-hoops-trips-new-york-2017-2018/89904258/ No article so far has seemed to acknowledge we have switched opponents. It's probably better for us as I assume WVU is closer to our level and it will probably be a better game against a still good team as we continue to rebuild but it definitely looks like we were suppose to play UNC originally.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I stupidly forgot to bring my charger with me to the east coast for the day so I had to conserve my phone battery for 15 hours (which I did with 20% left by using it only for really needed stuff). Than when I got home at almost midnight I fell straight asleep. First before I get into game and season as a whole I want to say two things: 1. I truly am so proud of this team. Other than the great tourney run to the 2012 title this was the first IU team since Jerry retired that I followed for a whole season and truly had a blast watching throughout and had the quality and elite talent of a team from the glory days. This team provided me so many good moments in what was otherwise a rough fall for sports locally and at IU. I am overjoyed to have followed this IU soccer team so closely throughout the season! 2. Holding the College Cup in an MLS stadium is crazy. I said that heading into the game yesterday but attending only enhanced my view. The fans who attended made some noise but to have 5,000 in attendance in an 18,000 seat stadium made for an awful atmosphere. This felt nothing like a national championship game other than the elite quality of the teams on the field. It's a gorgeous stadium (in a bad area) but it never should of hosted this type of match. I stand by my view that the higher seed should host all the way through. The Elite 8 game felt like an atmosphere of a championship and would only be more intense if you played the Final Four games on campus of the higher seed. I know it would be unfortunate if a lower seed won and had to celebrate on the other teams home field but its worth the tradeoff. If the NCAA is willing to let teams celebrate walk offs on other teams home fields in baseball by switching team that bats last each time you can certainly allow a national champion to celebrate on another teams home field and to me it would be well worth the trade off for having an elite tourney atmosphere for final games. Now lets move to the game. I am proud to have attended and represented IU yesterday despite the craziness of the trip and it was worth spending the day with a college buddy who I don't get to see often. I knew when I went (despite the expense) I took a risk of a heartbreaking loss but the tradeoff of potentially celebrating a national championship was worth it and I have no regrets. My college buddy who does not follow the team as closely (we were in school during the Freitag days so it was doubly 'ugh' at that time) said how much better this team looked compared to any of the teams we saw. I always described the "Jerry Yeagley days" to him in school I experienced as a kid with fond memories and for the first time he got to witness it with what "IU Soccer" really looks like despite the loss. Now lets get to the elephant in the room. As I said I was deadly afraid of Stanford from beginning and thought they are our worst matchup in college soccer. They are the only team that plays defense to the level we do and can fully give us no chances in an entire game. We tried everything (balls over top, run of play, set pieces, counter attacks) and they turned it all away. I am sure most offenses that played us throughout the season (and especially UNC in semi's) felt the same way we did today and now we got the feeling thrown back in our faces. I said our only hope was PK's and we almost made it. I feel like any other team we played whether it be Akron, Wake, Louisville or anyone else we would be holding the trophy today. We can shut down any attack no matter how good but need to score a goal at some point and Stanford is the one team besides us that really does not allow that opportunity. Any other team built on offense I am pretty confident plays out like UNC with a 1-0 or maybe even a 2-1 win. Defense always win championships which is why us or Stanford was always destined to hold the trophy at the end as these 2 D's are far and away the best in college soccer and its not close (the other's in top 10 are either Mid Majors or Akron, Wake or MSU who while very good are not quite to IU or Stanford's level). As for the goal we gave up as much as its great having elite talent again the reason we lost was a direct result of it. Dorsey trying to dribble out of the box instead of clearing it away is a direct result of him believing he has the elite skills to do that (and most times he does as his possession and speed skills are above anything I have seen from an IU player in a while). Chalk it up as a freshman mistake he will learn from but it happened at worst possible time. The goal and play happened right in front of me and as soon as he took that dribble I yelled 'what are you doing" even seconds before the goal was scored. Moving to next year I am not sure who bolts but no matter what we should be in contention for all the marbles again. Worst case we potentially lose Gutman, Muse, Toye and Dorsey to MLS along with Lillard for sure (I am not including Hyacinth as Warr with a year of seasoning is a better back up or starter. I love Hyacinth but he we was never destined for this level of play). If everyone but Lillard returns I am confident we are still the no. 1 team in the country. Maybe everyone comes back for a true shot at the title next year since they feel they have unfinished business. To me the most critical peace to return but also the most likely to leave is Muse. Unless we have another goalie in the pipeline I have seen enough of Gruber and Caulfield to know they are decent but a light year behind Muse in skill. If one of them played behind this D we are looking at 10-15 goals given up. With Lillard and this D any goalie was bound to be decent but a combo of Muse with this D made it the best in IU history. Losing Lillard makes it especially important we have the elite goalie back there as without him teams will have a few more chances. Even if Buckmaster, Kleyn or someone else solidly fill that role which is likely they cannot match Lillard. Gutman may strike while his stock is hot and a D of Buckmaster, Kleyn, Mehl and maybe Palazzolo with Gruber in goal is not bad and a D most teams would kill for. However, most teams are not IU and this would probably give up 15-20 goals next year which would put us in contention but would require a lot of luck to win it all. If the defense is Buckmaster, Kleyn, Mehl, Gutman and Muse your looking at again probably 10 goals or less given up and again the best D in college soccer and a great chance at playing for all the marbles again. Midfield we may lose Dorsey but we are so deep no matter who we plug in there I am confident it will be top 5 in nation regardless. This leaves Forward. I think Toye probably returns (but you never know) and if so another year of development under Yeagley you are looking most likely at Eriq Zavaletta numbers next year as a true bona fide go to scorer. If Toye bolts I saw enough from Warr that makes me think with another year of seasoning we can create enough goals out of mid to still put up really good offensive numbers. In conclusion no matter what happens we are a top 10-15 team with a top 10-15 offense no matter what. The question is going to be what the D looks like which could range anywhere from Top 20-25 to best in college soccer again depending on Muse and Gutman. We will be a contender no matter what but question is will we be a 10-15th ranked team that will really need some luck (like 2012) and go on the road and win tough games to get a title or will be the number 1 team again with a very friendly path at home and about as high of a shot as anyone in nation to win title. I was not sure what the reaction to the loss would be on the boards today but I am truly happy to see everyone shares my sentiment that this was a great season and the start of something big again rather than the end. I again thank the team for this great ride all year and giving me wonderful moments throughout the season. Things can change on a whim but for the first time since Jerry Yeagley retired the program finally feels like its on solid footing again moving forward. Todd has always been great at developing talent and in game strategy but recruiting was only solid. Now recruiting was finally elite again this year and we saw the difference. If Todd can recruit finally like he did this year (and hopefully now that he's done it once he can do it again every year moving forward) we will stay at the top of college soccer year in and year out. Like I said at most programs everything would be hunky dory the last 13 years but at IU it feels like something was missing in that time. Finally this team really felt like "IU Soccer" again and feels like it should be that way moving forward. Rather than the end I am looking at this as the beginning of recapturing the glory of the program. Go Hoosiers and again thanks for a spectacular season!

Well unless something changes looks I am good to go tomorrow. Flight is still running as of now and snow has tapered off and 2 different people have told me the roads are already decent so should be completely fine by morning. I will try to post pictures of the event before but probably not any posting during game as I am meeting a buddy of mine who lives on east coast at game who is also an IU alum so will be talking to him during. Also my recap (which will hopefully be an elated one) will not be posted till probably close to midnight tomorrow night when I return home from east coast as I am not bringing my computer. I may post something very brief from my phone after game but no guarantees. Go Hoosiers! Lets go win a title for all IU fans in the world!

As of now snow is suppose to stop around 11 p.m. tonight with a 0% chance tomorrow (who knows with weather though). They leave a large window open of like 6 hours on either side usually for the system to move through because they never know with the timing. They have also knocked the amount down from 4-6 inches to 1-3. With all that said forecasting is a crap shoot and anything can happen. It was suppose to be a dry weekend on east coast until Thursday when this system popped into the forecast. Meteorology like you said is the one business where you can be wrong and make a mistake half the time and keep your job. I am hopeful to be at the game tomorrow still but we will see. If anything looks in least bit questionable I am canceling (as I said Southwest tickets are reusable anytime and can be canceled until 90 min before flight) and of course my flight could still get canceled.

Sorry not an expert on Stanford. They are usually pretty good so they may very well reload quick but I have no insight into their recruiting or watched any off their games this year to know for sure what their future holds. I do know we will only lose Lillard for sure so we should be really good again. With that said there is somewhat of a chance Muse, Gutman and Dorsey could boot to MLS and a smaller chance Toye and Rennicks could as well. I do know we have enough depth to cover for any losses but if everyone besides Lillard returns we are almost certainly preseason no. 1 versus as low as 10-15 if we lose others as well depending on how many. We are almost certain to return Mehl, Buckmaster, Kleyn, Moore, Panchot, Swartz, Thomas and Gutjahr no matter what as well as Glass and Warr off the bench.

Since its a quick turnaround and no chance I will have time to post tomorrow here is a preview for the Stanford match. As Stanford always does they started the season super slow with inexplicable losses to Tulsa and Saint Louis early to open the season. However, since then they have been virtually unbeatable and given up just 9 goals all year (of which 4 were in the 2 early losses I just mentioned). Their attack is also among the best and you have to be especially careful of their forward Foster Langsdorf who has 14 Goals and 6 assists the year. They also have several guys with between 4 and 6 goals. Overall, they are virtually a clone of us with the no. 2 defense and the no. 9 offense (we are 1 on D and 12 on O) and play a similar style. Tonight I was pretty confidant it would be us getting the goal as UNC is always good to give up a goal each game and elite D usually beats elite O and I trusted our D to shut them down. I trust our D just as much Sunday but Stanford often times does not give up a goal so I am less confident it will be us getting the score this time (I would say 50-50 who score Sunday versus tonight I would of put it 66-33 us being the ones). This one could also very well end scoreless and head to PK's given the quality of both defenses so hopefully if that happens Muse can step up one more time for us. Important Update: Just saw on twitter they tarped the entire field in anticipation of the snow tomorrow so field should be good to go Sunday unless something strange happens. That was one worry I had were field conditions but that seems to be solved and pretty much guarantees stadium will be ready in time. Now question is will roads be cleaned and my flight get out Sunday Morning? Either way though definitively appears we will have a game Sunday so that's good.

After tonight I gotta say let the higher seed host all the way through. The crowd tonight was 500 smaller than in Armstrong but since the place is 3 times bigger it looked a ghost town instead of packed like we had last weekend. Also the stadium as I said earlier looks to much like you are watching a pro match instead of a college match given its size and vastness. At least play it in a neutral site that is a college stadium if nothing else. No comparison in atmosphere when game on campus and crowd on top of you.

Wow. Heart stopped as I thought UNC was going to score on the cross there with a min left. Otherwise as I have said time and time again this D can shut any attack down and did. This was a true top 5 match up. Also as I said since me going Sunday with snow tomorrow is up in air I knew IU would win. I can cancel until 90 min before my flight Sunday (6am) so I am in and wait and see but hope to be there but if not I'll be watching again and getting money back. Hopefully i'll be going but not real confident now given weather situation. As I said Stanford scares the tar out of me. Don't have UNC's attack but have a D that is as tough to score on as ours. I would much rather play the slightly leaky defense with the elite offense we saw tonight since I trust us to shut down any attack. I am much more worried about facing an elite D Sunday. Defense wins championships and the top 2 defenses are facing off for a title that someone's winning 1-0 or going to PK's. Bring on the "Panchot bowl".

Not correct but iuhoosiers.com has free radio broadcast

Score! What a corner!

Were getting stronger as game goes on. Hopefully like MSU we find net in 2nd half but this time its game winner instead of to level the match. UNC is far and away the most talented team we have faced so far with either Notre Dame or Maryland a close 2nd. Hopefully this plays out exactly like ND where it stays 0-0 with not many chances either way until we scored late and held on.

Lets do this

Probably the uncertainty with the snow and me being able to go Sunday even if we win tonight ensures we will win which I'm fine with.

I had a feeling this would happen. Akron D is good but not good enough and as soon as you give up a goal to Stanford your dead. If we win tonight we have to hold Stanford scoreless and hope to get a late winner . You cannot give up an early goal to Stanford like Wake or Akron did and hope to have a chance. If we do against Stanford like we did against MSU its game over. Tonight while I would rather not give up a goal I would actually feel decent about getting it back if we do. We are probably the one team with a chance against Stanford given our D but we cannot let them score early. On a side note watching a game take place in an MLS stadium is weird. I feel like i'm watching a pro or US game rather than college.

Any idea what NCAA and stadium plans to do to get the field ready Sunday in time for the game? Snow looks like it will be long gone by game time but it looks like Philly could get up to 6 inches of snow into Saturday night. I am still planning on going if we win tonight but I am on a tight schedule and need to be back at work Monday morning (have 1st flight in and last flight out Sunday) so I can't afford to have them push start time back or delay game a day. On a positive note Lillard is one of 3 finalists for the Hermann player of the year trophy. Last Hoosier to win it was Danny O'Rourke in 04. Before that it was our current assistant Brian Maisonneuve in 94 (although Dema Kovalenko won the NSCAA player of the year award in 98 which now no longer exists). Also does anyone know where we played games before Armstrong opened in 81? I just realized sport started in 73 and never really thought about where we played before that.

Game day go Hoosiers! Apparently Austin Panchot's brother plays on Stanford which I never knew and they could face off in title game: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/soccer/panchot-brothers-hope-to-meet-in-ncaa-soccer-title-match/article_5d51c0db-c27d-5877-b822-bc7082b65cd9.html

Kent Sterling had a segment with a former player about IU soccer today.

Can't go Friday (work ends at 5:30 and absolutely no way I can leave early so can't be at game in time) but will be watching and absolutely am going Sunday if we win.

Ok lets preview since IU decided to do theirs today and here is the media availability of the players and Yeagley heading into the game:. https://scout.com/college/indiana/Article/College-Cup-Preview-Todd-Yeagley-IU-players-111783460 I remember saying last spring when I read the press release on the high ranked freshman class that if the one of the forwards could step up and put Hyacinth on the bench (not a knock on him but he is out of his league at this level) we would be the number 1 team in the country and a legit title contender and that's exactly what has happened. I was very optimistic about this season from the moment I saw Dorsey and Toye up top take down a high ranked Louisville at Grand Park in an exhibition game and knew we had fixed our offensive problems. I had questions about the goalie coming out of that game as neither Gruber or Caulfield looked good and basically were the reason we gave up 2 goals in 3-2 win. However, Muse answered that question once the season started taking the job and has been phenomenal. I went to the USF game early in the season and after watching Muse and the rest of the team dominate and put up 3 goals I knew we had our best team in many years and had our first serious shot at a national title since 2012 as this was the first team without a glaring weakness since. Now fast forward to this weekend where everything has turned out as good as it looked in the first few games and preview the match. UNC will be the best team we have faced particularly on offense. Their attack is on a much higher level than anything we have seen and ranks no. 2 in the nation. Up top they have 3 guys that put up 27 goals combined in Lindley, Pieters and Winn with 7,9 and 11 respectively. Lindley and Pieters are especially dangerous as they also create goals with 13 and 7 assists respectively. This UNC team is also extremely battle tested in the ACC and have taken down elite teams, beating highly ranked Duke and Notre Dame at home as well as a road win at Virginia. They have other good wins as well but those standout as those are all legit top 10 teams most of the year. UNC Averages 2.52 goals per game which is by far the best we have seen this year and ranks no. 2 in nation. In those aforementioned games they scored 2 goals on Duke, 3 on Notre Dame and 2 on Virginia. All these teams have defenses close to IU's so clearly they know how to score on top defenses. As for things that are good for us, UNC has by far the weakest defense in the Cup at no. 26 in the nation giving up close to a goal a game so we hopefully we can pencil ourselves in for at least a goal as they have only 7 shutouts in 21 games. The key is going to be not to give up a 2 or 3 goals (remember we have not given up more than a single goal in any game and just 6 in 23 games) to a team that has an extremely efficient offense. If our D plays as it has all year we should have a decent shot to get a win. The other thing that stands out is unlike MSU, UNC seems to have an issue finding a good goalie as they have rotated 3 guys throughout the year. I have a feeling some of their D issues rest with the goalie position. If we gave them Muse (which we would never do) the number of goals given up by them may be cut in half and in the high single digits or low double digits like the other 3 teams in this cup. We have 2 mutual opponents which proves my point. They did beat ND 3-0 as mentioned above but also took a 2-1 loss to them in Big East Tourney and this is a team IU shut out. They also went needed OT to beat the same ODU team 2-1 we dominated and shutout. In other words they have had more success scoring on these teams than we did for most part but have not shut down the same teams attack like we did. In those 3 common games we were 4 goals for and 0 against while they are 6 goals for but gave up 2. UNC's 2 other losses came to Wake which is perfectly understandable but they also have an inexplicable early season 1-0 loss to a very bad UNC Wilmington team. I predict IU gets a 2-1 win in OT. This is not a confidant prediction but given UNC's defensive issues I have to think we are good for a goal at some point during regulation but also expect us to give up a goal given the level of their offense as Louisville is the only other team that has blanked them (in a 0-0 tie which was only tie of year for them) this year besides that unexplainable Wilmington game. However, in OT I expect their D or goalie to make a mistake at some point and ours to hold strong given precedent this season. Obviously anything can happen when you have 2 evenly matched legit top 5 teams but am optimistic for the best given how far we have come. Go Hoosiers!

Dunbar's firing makes me very sad. It's deserved and I knew it was probably coming but since I know her personally and really like her its hard to see happen.

Exactly where I am at and could not agree more. Main reason I have poured so much more time and effort into watching IU Soccer than ever before (although I have always followed fairly closely for most part).

I said this a few weeks ago and got jumped on saying it was not true. Look I generally a positive person but also realistic and to me the direction of this program is very questionable. I am not quite on the fire Moren bandwagon quite yet but do worry if we are having this much trouble with Buss and Cahill still on team how we will be in future. Having Patberg, Penn and Berger in future who are very good will probably not offset Buss and Cahill's loss so at best we will probably be on this average level in future and at worst fall to bottom of Big Ten which is possible.

Akron. Either would be equally tough but a Stanford team that has not given up a goal in 10 straight NCAA tourney games over 3 tournaments and 9 all year makes me think our only hope would probably be a 0-0 tie and win in penalty kicks. Akron will be really tough but think we have a decent chance of at least a 1-0 win given they beat Wiscy 3-2 in tourney and Wiscy offense is as good as ours and a much worse D.