COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Early this season, Indiana coach Jerry Yeagley didn't think he had enough experienced players to reach the NCAA soccer tournament semifinals for the fifth straight year.

A season-opening loss at home to St. John's fueled the doubt. Then Yeagley lost several key players to injuries and had to start three freshmen and several sophomores.

But Indiana (17-3-1) recovered, ended up winning the Big Ten and now will play St. John's (17-2-3) in the semifinals Friday night at Columbus Crew Stadium.

Stanford (19-1-1) faces North Carolina (19-4) in the first game.

"We were not a final four contender at the beginning of the year," said Yeagley, whose team has been to the semifinals in 15 of his 29 seasons. "This team has come as far as any in terms of developing from an OK team into a very good one."

Yeagley was most concerned about starting a freshman as his defensive midfielder for the first time, but Danny O'Rourke has played quite well.

Since that 2-1 loss to St. John's, Indiana's defense has allowed only four goals and has 16 shutouts.

"O'Rourke at defensive midfield is the hub of the team," Yeagley said. "He has really improved and is now one of our best athletes."

Yeagley says this time his defense is ready for Shalrie Joseph, who scored and had an assist in the first game against St. John's, and he thinks his team can handle the Red Storm's aggressive play at midfield.

"We think they have the best midfield in the country," the coach said. "But we are not the same team we were when we first played them."

Yeagley also credits his team's success to the offense of All-American forward Pat Noonan.

"Pat is the best college player in the country and he proved that by scoring two spectacular goals to get us into the semifinals," said Yeagley, whose team beat Clemson to advance.

St. John's beat defending national champion Connecticut to win the Big East conference and defeated top-seeded Southern Methodist in the quarterfinals.

But coach Dave Masur doesn't want his players thinking about any previous victories -- especially over Indiana.

"We don't like to look at things in terms of who we have beaten," Masur said. "We just want to keep them focused on the task at hand and let them enjoy the whole experience."

St. John's is led by Jeff Mateo, the Big East's midfielder of the year, and Joseph, who has scored four of his team's last six winning goals.

Masur moved Joseph, who was an All-Big East selection at forward and the team's leading scorer last year, to sweeper after injuries depleted the team's defense.

Joseph, an All-Big East choice at defender this year, helped St. John's limit opponents to fewer than eight shots a game.

The other semifinal features North Carolina's 6-foot-5 forward Ryan Kneipper, who scored twice on headers in the quarterfinals.

Stanford is led by Pacific-10 player of the year Roger Levesque and is coached by Bret Simon, who led Creighton to the final last season.