Indiana Alumni Magazine
New coach, same championship result.
By Mike Wright
IU soccer player Jacob Peterson celebrates. Photo by David Snodgress.
When goalie Jay Nolly knocked away the last University of California Santa Barbara penalty shot after two overtimes, the Hoosiers of rookie coach Mike Freitag celebrated their second consecutive NCAA soccer championship and their seventh overall.
A former IU player, Freitag, BS'84, MS'86, took part in one championship as a graduate assistant and three as an assistant coach under 31-year Hall-of-Fame coach Jerry Yeagley. Freitag took over this season after the Hoosiers sent Yeagley into retirement with his sixth national title.
The 2004 victory came over a UCSB team that handed Indiana its first loss of the season, a 1-0, double-overtime decision in the Adidas/Crescent Financial Solutions Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., on Sept. 9.
IU saw more of the same aggressive style in the College Cup championship match at Carson, Calif. UCSB drew 30 fouls, to 20 for the Hoosiers, and pressed the attack throughout. Freitag complimented the Gauchos after the contest.
"I would like to commend UCSB," he said. "They were outstanding on this day. They say defense wins championships, and we had to defend today."
The Hoosiers seemed to be playing on adrenalin at the end. In the semifinal game on Friday, IU slipped past Maryland, 3-2, on John Michael Hayden's goal near the end of the second overtime. UCSB had a relatively easy time of its semifinal contest, garnering a 5-0 win over Duke.
Indiana scored first, at the 26:23 mark of the title game on forward Jacob Peterson's goal.
The Gauchos pushed and pressed their attack with no success until forward Drew McAthy collected a rebound and fired in a goal from 10 yards out to tie the game in the 82nd minute. Playing the Gauchos, the self-proclaimed "fittest team in the country," in their own backyard and in front of 13,601 people, the Hoosiers faced tough odds. But a good contingent of IU fans and the pep band playing the fight song gave some counter to the UCSB home crowd.
After two overtimes, the rules say the game will be decided on penalty kicks — the goalie going one-on-one with a shooter. Each team is allowed five attempts. If the game is still tied, it goes to sudden-death penalty kicks to determine the outcome.
Indiana fell behind in the penalty-kick phase when Drew Moor had his attempt blocked by Kyle Reynish, and McAthy connected on UCSB's first attempt.
Hayden beat Reynish on IU's second kick, and UCSB forward Neil Jones sailed his kick over the bar. Senior Greg Badger came through, giving IU the lead when he booted the ball into the left side of the net. But Ivan Becerra evened things for the Gauchos. Both goalies recorded a save on the fourth kicks.
On IU's final penalty kick, junior Mike Ambersley drilled the ball into the net. It was a sweet goal for Ambersley, who missed the 2003 championship run because he was out of school for the year for disciplinary reasons.
With a 3-2 lead in the penalty kicks, the title was only a save away. Nolly, a three-year starter and Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the 2003 College Cup, dove to his left when UCSB's Nate Boyden hit the ball. Nolly punched it away and secured the victory. He was mobbed immediately by his worn-out but happy teammates. Nolly again was named Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
Freitag said the semifinal game against Maryland took a lot out of the Hoosiers, and UCSB was a sound opponent in the final.
"I think it showed our character," he said. "We kept fighting until the end, and we ended up being champions. I'm very proud of them."
The Hoosiers won their other soccer championships in 1982, 1983, 1988, 1998, 1999, and 2003. This was IU's 17th appearance in the College Cup, collegiate soccer's final four.
Brian Plotkin, Danny O'Rourke, Hayden, and Zayner joined Nolly on the All-Tournament team. O'Rourke and Moor were first-team All-Americans, while Nolly was a third-team selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The national champion Hoosiers ended the season 19-4-1. 
Mike Wright, BA’78, is managing editor of the Indiana Alumni Magazine. He
can be reached at miwright
indiana.edu.