The Hoosier men's soccer team is riding a 10-game "unbeaten" streak, is ranked #9 in the country, and has made the third round (Sweet Sixteen) of the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive year. That's the good news. The less good news is that the Hoosiers have made another trip to #1 North Carolina, just like they did in 2009. They lost that game 1-0. Indiana has been markedly better since forward Nikita Kotlov finally rounded into shape and has been terrorizing opponents, and combining with star freshman Eriq Zavaleta and senior Alec Purdie to make the Hoosiers a consistent multiple-goal scoring team. Which is fortunate, as the Hoosiers have started giving up goals too (7 in the last 7 games), which has resulted in 3 ties, including the one where Northwestern won the PKs to advance past the Hoosiers to win the Big Ten tourney.
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The Hoosiers have a good thing going, and so does UNC. The Tarheels are vulnerable, I think, as they rely on a very potent offense and a good-if-not-awe-inspiring defense. Leading scorers Billy Shuler, Enzo Martinez, and Ben Speas are threats to create goals at any time, while goalkeeper Scott Goodwin has a decent save percentage at 73.8%. The Tarheels have outshot their opponents 415-175 on the season and putting 40.7% on goal. In comparison, the Hoosiers have only outshot their foes 287-240, with GK Luis Soffner posting a 80.7% save rate, and IU's shot-on-goal percentage has been a very good 41.1%, but they've let their foes post a 40.8% (UNC's opponents have placed 35.4% of their shots on goal).
The Hoosiers have to keep control of the ball, because if IU is able to create as many chances on goal as UNC in this game, I actually like the Hoosiers for the upset. Go Hoosiers!