The men's regular season doesn't begin until Friday, but preseason games are taken seriously. About 7,000 fans showed up at the annual National Soccer Festival  in Ft. Wayne, Ind., to watch the showcase match of the three-day tournament -- Indiana's 3-0 win over North Carolina.

"We're on the verge of something really, really good," director Terry Stefankiewicz told the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette.

Other Division I men's scores at the Soccer Festival: IPFW-Drake 1-1, Louisville-Michigan State 2-0 and North Carolina-Akron 2-0.

ELSEWHERE. Defending national champion Wake Forest edged Furman, 1-0, on Cody Arnoux's goal in the 36th minute.

Jeff Thayer scored twice to lead the Creighton past 2007 national runner-up Ohio State, 3-0, in Columbus.

AND ALSO ... Connecticut defeated Hofstra, 2-0, on goals by Shawn Nicklaw and O'Brian White in front of 4,500 supporters.

Freshman Brian Ownby scored twice in Virginia's 3-0 win over Old Dominion.

*Rebuilding Virginia Tech played to a 1-1 tie with VCU. Sophomore Terry Boland scored his first goal of the preseason.

*Scott Wisniewski and Jimmy Holmes scored to give Saint Louis a 2-0 win over visiting Memphis.

*Mark Blades and Matt Eliason scored second-half goals as Northwestern capped an undefeated exhibition season by coming from behind to top St. John's, 3-2.

After going without a shot in the first half, South Florida got goals from Kevon Neaves and Bernardo Anor to beat Maryland, 2-1, on the road.