Lucky No. 21. Could this trip to the men’s College Cup be Indiana’s ticket to its ninth NCAA Championship? It very well could be.

Image credit: NCAA

In a world where the NCAA couldn’t even confirm whether a championship would happen, the Hoosiers kept focused. They trained via video chats. The players worked out on their own. And when they could finally get together, everything came together.

Now, with a spring season under their belt, the Hoosiers are two wins away from their ninth NCAA championship. Not too shabby. IU (11-1-2) faces Pittsburgh Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET in the College Cup semifinal.

“Every one is very special,” Indiana University head coach Todd Yeagley said. “This is our 21st. We’re very proud of that. But it’s No. 1 for this group. And that’s what we’re focused on, letting this team have its opportunity to leave the ultimate mark.”

It’s been a long road. One year ago, the players were distanced. The NCAA had strict guidelines on all athletes. There was no training. There were no extracurricular activities. Every single thing was watched under a fine microscope. You never knew when the NCAA was going to come knocking on your door, questioning your plan.

Slowly but surely, teams were able to come together and train. But they had no idea when or if a season would happen. The Big Ten Conference announced a conference only season. The teams would take part in a 10-game season and then the conference tournament.

IU started off with back-to-back 3-0 wins. They dropped a 1-0 decision to Northwestern in their third match. That was it. The Hoosiers dominated conference play, allowing just one more goal in the regular season. IU had two games cancelled, but its 7-1 record earned them a regular-season Big Ten championship.

IU then topped Northwestern 3-0 and Maryland 2-0 to earn a Big Ten Tournament championship appearance. After a 1-1 draw the Hoosiers topped Penn State in PKs to capture their third-straight conference double and an automatic NCAA Tournament bid as a No. 3 seed.

But this year’s tournament is not the same. Normally, a top seed would host home matches. This year, all matches are played in North Carolina.

“It’s been really nice to have the team in our little mini bubble,” Yeagley said. “They’ve spent a lot of time together, but individually together in apartments. It’s been really fun. It’s been a great trip. I want to keep this thing going as long as we can.”

History repeated itself against St. Francis Brooklyn, with the two teams ending in a 1-1 deadlock. IU again advanced on PKs. The Hoosiers then topped Marquette 2-1 and Seton Hall 2-0, moving on to its 21st College Cup.

Friday, IU faces off with Pitt. The Hoosiers have been dominant on offense and defense, outscoring opponents 30-5. MAC Hermann Trophy finalist Victor Bezerra leads IU with 12 goals and three assists. He currently ranks fourth nationally in goals per game. Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Roman Celentano and the defense have earned nine shutouts in 14 matches.

Pittsburgh (16-3) is a newly refurbished squad. Coach Jay Vidovich took over the program in 2017 and in a few short years turned it into a national contender. In his first season, Pitt won just two conference matches. This Pitt team has made a solid tournament run, outscoring opponents 13-1 in three tournament matches.

The Panthers have dominated offensively with 51 goals, while defensively they’ve allowed 22 in 19 matches. MAC Hermann Trophy finalist Valentin Noel leads the Panthers with 14 goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Nico Campuzano and company have earned six clean sheets.

The only time the two teams met was in 2019. Pitt jumped out to a 2-0 lead but the Hoosiers responded, winning 3-2.

“I’m one of those guys who likes to win all the time,” Vidovich said. “It’s not about the last game there. The bottom line is that was a whole different team on our side and a whole different team on their side. We’ve formed a new chemistry and new identity.”

Yeagley said he knows this could be the club’s toughest match yet.

“We definitely know the style of play that they like to play,” he said. “We’ve played a few teams with a similar style. Jay’s done an unbelievable job rebuilding Pitt and rebranding them into the team they are. They’re an absolute contender. We’re going to have to be really good on Friday.”

As for Vidovich, he too knows it will be a tough match.

“The storyline for Indiana — they have the DNA, they find ways to win,” Vidovich said. “Winning has been in their DNA since coach Jerry Yeagley started the program. It really is a quality team that does have history. This team that they have has never been to a final four, nor has ours. That’s the reality of it.”

The bottom line is, yes it’s a shortened season but both teams are excited and hungry for a championship. As for who will come out on top, only time will tell. But one thing is for sure: This Hoosiers team is the real deal.

“This team has not been a team that has overwhelmed our opponents,” Yeagley said. “We don’t kid ourselves and feel that’s the way we’re going to go out. We can play really good soccer and certainly this team is very capable. It’s very built well up the center of the field. We have guys that can change the game in the wings. We have an outstanding goalkeeper, a strong spine and a goal scorer. And those ingredients have proved very important to us. The roles are very defined at this point. The guys know where they are. They go out and do it. The guys that are coming in know what they need to do. They’re not trying to do anything more. There’s a great grit about this group that’s developed over the course of the season.”

A peek at the first men’s semifinal:

In the first semifinal College Cup newcomer Marshall (11-2-3) takes on North Carolina (9-4-4). Marshall earned an automatic bid by winning its second-straight Conference USA Tournament. The Herd topped Fordham 2-1 in overtime, outlasted No.1 Clemson 7-6 in PKs after a 1-1 draw and finally beat defending NCAA champion Georgetown 1-0 to advance to the College Cup. Overall, Marshall has outscored opponents 28-8, while defensively they’ve earned nine shutouts.

North Carolina topped Wake Forest 2-1 en route to its ninth College Cup. Both the Tar Heels men and women find themselves in the College Cup. North Carolina toppled Charlotte, Stanford and Wake Forest in NCAA tourney action. The Tar Heels have outscored opponents 20-10, while earning nine shutouts. They’re in search of their third championship and first since 2011.

Follow Kathryn on Twitter: @Katknapp99.

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Lower League America returns with Episode 8 covering the USL playoffs, as both the Eastern and Western Conference finals will kick off this weekend. New York Red Bulls II will visit Louisville City FC on Friday night, while Orange County SC will host Phoenix Rising FC on Saturday. The two winners will meet in Thursday’s final at 8 p.m. ET at the home of the team with the best regular-season record. Host Jason Davis welcomes USL commentator Mike Watts to size up all the action.

You can watch Episodes 1-7 below:

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Photo credit: Hayden Schiff

Two weeks ago or so, you may have started following Dan DiMicco, the new majority owner of the Charlotte Independence. And if you’re the average American soccer fan, there’s a good chance you stopped following him shortly thereafter.

DiMicco was president Donald Trump’s trade advisor during the 2016 presidential election, and his Twitter timeline shows it. Such outspoken opinions have been known to derail American soccer owners before. Kyle Eng, the previous majority owner of Arizona United, sold his stake after the supporters’ group La Hermandad 1912 boycotted the team simply for Eng’s support of Trump.

So should Independence fans be worried about their new big-money owner being boycotted out of American soccer? The short answer: probably not.

DiMicco’s tweets are mostly harmless. His timeline consists mostly of re-tweets, and while people generally re-tweet things they agree with, one should be careful to conflate those with endorsements. Of his actual constructed tweets, a vast majority of them focus on issues of fiscal conservatism. It should serve as no surprise that someone rich enough to own a majority stake in a Division 2 soccer league would be a fiscal conservative. According to a New York Times exit poll, voters making $250,000 or more preferred Trump in 2016 by two points and voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 by the same margin.

Further, a vast majority of his fiscally conservative tweets relate to China, which is also logical considering his vast experience in the steel industry (he was CEO of the Charlotte-based Nucor Corporation), an industry China is trying its hardest to gain a foothold in. So in a sense, it was only natural that now-President Trump would reach out to DiMicco during the 2016 campaign for help in crafting Trump’s trade platform.

By the way, fiscal conservatism may not mean what it used to in large part due to DiMicco. As recently as 2015, congressional Republicans and then-president Barack Obama had struck a deal in an unusual alliance to support and eventually ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It was to be a huge win for free trade and a push against China (which the TPP did not include). However, as the ratification process stumbled along, Democratic pushback led both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to declare against the TPP. It was one of their few points of agreement with then-candidate Trump, who claimed that similar trade agreements — NAFTA in particular — were harmful both to the American business climate and to the American worker.

It was an effective economic populist message to lower-class and lower-middle-class workers, who hadn’t felt the wage growth apparent in the rest of the economy, and it was probably why Trump performed better than expected in areas like the Midwest, where free-trade agreements were arguably the most harmful. So while fiscal conservatives maintain an affinity for domestic free trade (this is the genesis of many a Republican deregulation call), they’re becoming more skeptical of international free trade, in no small part due to China’s currency manipulation.

This may not seem like it has much to do with soccer, but it’s important to understand DiMicco’s role in Trump’s campaign beyond “he helped him get elected.” If you weren’t at all interested in the last two paragraphs, you probably have few complaints over what lies nearest and dearest to DiMicco. As trade advisor to then-candidate Trump, DiMicco’s likely contribution was in the crafting of that economic populism message.

If tweets are a good indication of how one spends their time, DiMicco will likely continue to focus on his manufacturing interests, limiting his role in running the Independence to hiring the right people and writing checks.

But there could be repercussions if DiMicco’s non-economic political views start to bleed into his running of the team. American soccer fans trend younger and more diverse than the typical sports fan, and probably wouldn’t take kindly to a public rebuke of a player kneeling for the anthem, for example.

Other than a few liked tweets, however, there isn’t much evidence yet to suggest DiMicco would take action on such things. If president Jim McPhilliamy continues to run the team, drawing on DiMicco for funding and help in the business sector, the future of the Independence is bright.

(Disclosure: Ian works for a local Democratic Party in North Carolina.)

Follow Ian on Twitter: @ianarmasfoster.

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Follow Robbie on Twitter: @RobbMeh.

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“MLS Fantasy Boss” Reid Connelly and 2018 MLS Fantasy spring champion Tod Modisette join co-hosts Kevin Johnston and John Lenard to preview the 2019 season from a fantasy perspective.

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Follow Robbie on Twitter: @RobbieMeh.

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Image credit: MAC Hermann Trophy

Every generation has one: a player who stands above all others; a player who people come to see; a player who is more than just a player. In the late 1980s, Ken Snow was that player for Indiana men’s soccer.

Kenny, as those who knew him called him, was one of a kind. He could visualize the game. He was crafty and creative. He dodged defenders easily. And he scored goals. He scored goals with ease. He was small and sneaky. He was technical and precise. He made it look simple.

“He was the best without question,” former IU head coach Jerry Yeagley said. “He had a gift where the game slowed down in front of the goal. He became calm. Most of his finishes were passes, toe pokes, a bender. They were off-speed goals.”

Opponents wanted to shut him down. His teammates fed off his energy and work ethic. And the young kids in the stands or at IU Soccer Camp idolized him. Ken Snow was the reason the stands would fill up on game day. Snow ended his tenure at IU as the all-time leading scorer with 84 goals and 28 assists (196 points). To this day, no one has topped that feat.

“I would sit up high and just watch him play,” current IU head coach Todd Yeagley said. “His movement and sophistication — you had a deep appreciation for him. I was old enough to understand that.”

Snow passed away June 21 at the young age of 50 after a battle with COVID-19-like symptoms. His family and friends are mourning the loss of a legend gone too soon. And a whole new generation will miss out on learning from one of the best.

“Todd and I watched all those games,” Yeagley family friend Omar Alani said. “It was adults versus kids. Kenny, he wasn’t big. He didn’t have ripping muscles. He wasn’t a great athlete. He could score from anywhere. He could chip at any angle. He would put a corner flag right next to the goal. He would practice his free kicks. He got it in every time. It was amazing. If my son was playing soccer, I couldn’t think of anyone better to teach him to score than Kenny Snow.”

Snow grew up playing the game and learning all its secrets. He practiced non-stop with his younger brother, Steve. They focused on the little things. They perfected finishing. And it showed.

“He and Steve from what I understood, they had a goal in the backyard,” Todd Yeagley said. “They played and finished all the time. That’s where he honed his craft. His vision and composure in and around the goal was just different. You’re never going to make an average goalscorer great. It’s something you learn from a young age. The daily battle with his brother definitely helped his game.”

And it didn’t end there. Snow was often the first one at practice and the last one to leave, spending time perfecting the little things.

“He was a soccer junkie,” Jerry Yeagley said. “He hung out after practice to work with the intricacies of the game. He was the last one to leave.”

Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Snow made a name for himself starring for Hoffman Estates High School from 1983-86. He scored 128 goals in 74 matches, ranked no. 17 all time for most goals scored in Illinois High School Association history. Steve and Ken rank No. 1 and No. 2 in IHSA history for the most consecutive matches scored in. Steve scored in 49 straight matches, while Ken scored in 47.

Snow lit up the nets for the Hoosiers from 1987-90. The first four-time All-American kicked off his career with a bang, scoring 28 goals in his freshman campaign, topping the record of 27 goals in a season previously held by Robert Meschbach (1980) and Armando Betancourt (1981).

“Any inch a defender gave him, he would take and make them pay,” Alani said. “We would be invited to play in pick-up games. It was like shooting hoops with Steve Alford or playing catch with Peyton Manning.”

Snow turned up the heat again in 1988. He kicked off the season by tallying four goals in IU’s annual Adidas Classic, topping North Carolina 2-0 and UCLA 2-1. Midway through the season, Snow tallied a hat trick in IU’s 3-0 win over St. Louis. Snow tallied 22 goals in 1988, leading the Hoosiers to the Final Four. IU hosted the tournament and earned its third national championship, topping Portland and Howard by 1-0 scores.

“He was a great friend and a great person,” former teammate Ken Godat said. “He was always known as a fun guy. He was as smart as can be. He was a brain. On the field he was creative, crafty and all finesse — no power about it. He was always chipping, bending, dinking it in, doing something creative. He was a marked man. The year we won it he had 22 goals as a marked man. That’s impressive. He was an amazing player.”

Ken and Steve played one year together at Indiana in 1989. In that year, their teammates witnessed magic. The Snow brothers sparked a 7-2 win over Harvard on Sept. 24. Ken recorded a hat trick in the first half, adding a fourth goal in the second half. Steve scored once and assisted on two of Ken’s goals. The duo combined for 12 points in the win.

“When his brother was there, they could always find each other,” Godat said. “They always had a sense of where the other one was. Steve was strong, the opposite of Ken.”

Snow ended the 1989 campaign with 20 goals and 1990 with 14. He won both the MAC Player of the Year Award and Hermann Trophy in 1988 and 1990. Players around the country knew who he was and idolized him.

“I was excited when I found out Ken was my coach,” former Hoosier J.T. Cerroni said, reflecting on his IU soccer camp experience. “He is so much more than awards, records and accolades. He taught me how to get that half step and turn the defender. He taught me how to get that perfect angle. He was very analytical. He was always thinking. He knew exactly how to get away from his defender. He knew how to get the ball into the back of the net. I learned so much from him.”

In 1988, Snow added two U.S. men’s national team caps to his resume. He played professionally from 1991-99, spending most of his indoor career with the Chicago Power. He played in 140 games for the Power, netting 151 goals. Snow played his best indoor soccer during the 1994-95 season, where he scored 56 goals in 40 games. Snow had a couple of trials with Major League Soccer teams, the Kansas City Wizards and Chicago Fire, but failed to make the cut. He hung up his cleats in 1999.

“He was a natural goalscorer,” former Power general manager and Fire president and GM Peter Wilt said. “That’s what made him special. In the first preseason for the Fire we were desperate for another forward. I pushed Bob Bradley to bring him in. He was trying so hard, but he just couldn’t score. It was down to him and Ante Razov. By the time he finally did score, it was too late. Ante had pretty much made the team. If Kenny would have gotten on a hot streak, he might have had a great MLS career.”

Snow remained active in the soccer community, with youth soccer camps in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Snow’s camps focused on shooting and goal scoring. His camp website, KenSnowSoccer.com, emphasized that “players at every position need to be able to shoot the soccer ball.” His summer 2020 camps were postponed due to COVID-19.

“He worked with young kids on finishing,” Jerry Yeagley said. “He was very smart, very intelligent. He was a hero, a role model. Basketball kids looked up to Steve Alford. Kenny was the one that people wanted to be like. People loved Kenny and loved watching him. People came to our games to watch Kenny.”

It’s simple and tragic. Snow is a legend. He is a legend that left his mark on the game of soccer, and all who knew him. And sadly, he is a legend that was taken too soon.

Follow Kathryn on Twitter: @Katknapp99.

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