ARTICLE:Takeaways from National Soccer Festival

[Will_Padgman 194]

After winning a national title 7 months earlier, a team who has aspirations of contending again without it's senior leaders and captains might schedule some cupcakes to gain some momentum heading into the season. Not Indiana.At the National Soccer Festival this past weekend, the Hoosiers battled two top-fifteen squads in Marquette and North Carolina. Ranked 12th and 4th respectively, the two opponents were able to test what most people saw as the chief cause for concern for the Cream and Crimson: how would the defense hold up after losing goalkeeper Luis Soffner and central defender Caleb Konstanski?

Turns out, the team is proving many of the doubters wrong. Even with the results not coming in the form of W's, the needs that the team needed to address were met, and the players will be holding onto the edge of having to work for another title.

In Thursday's matchup against Marquette, the effective attack of the Hoosiers showed when they took a 3-1 lead into the half behind goals from A.J. Corrado, Jacob Bushue, and freshman forward Tommy Thompson. They also held a 17-3 shot advantage over the Golden Eagles in that half.

Coming back into the second half, they switched out Michael Soderlund for Colin Webb, along with a completely new set of field players, and ended up conceding 2 more goals before the full 90, and the match ended in a 3-3 draw.

Saturday's game was a much different story than the goal-fest a few days prior. The shot tally at the end of the first 45 was 8-5 with the Hoosiers leading the Tar Heels, and Indiana not allowing a shot on goal until 8 minutes left to play in the first half.

While UNC ended up with the game winner just moments after the clock began running for the second time, it is very telling that Soderlund, who played the entirety of the match, only had one save.

What did these two matches teach? They showed that even without goal-scoring machine Eriq Zavaleta, this Hoosier side can still net enough goals to win matches. It showed that a defense that lost its vocal leader can still wrap up a skilled offensive attack. It even showcased how Soderlund can be effective moving forward as the starter in front of goal. All of these things, combined with the continued progression of the chemistry in the midfield, will ultimately be the deciding factor as to how far this team can go.

With a such a small sample size, it is hard to tell where the team will go from here. But as far as addressing the questions brought before them, it is clear this team has what it takes to have a successful season.

Photo Credit goes to Chad Ryan/The Journal Gazette

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[padgman1 21]

_{Sounds like a promising start so far.............}

 

_{The Classic this weekend should be interesting to watch.........will have to catch it by Twitter ( or possibly Internet Radio/ WIUX ?????)...............}

[padgman1 21]

My font size too small.....

 

Sounds like a promising start so far.......

 

The Classic this weekend should be interesting to watch......will have to catch it by Twitter ( or possibly Internet Radio/WIUX ???????)..........