For the past two weeks IU coach Ryan Castle said he has emphasized defense heavily in practices. He said he thought the team’s offense was very talented, but ball movement and defense were issues that needed to be fixed.
After an undefeated weekend at the Bruno Classic in Providence, Rhode Island this weekend, Castle said he was proud of the way his team performed defensively and hopes it will continue in the weeks to come.
“We were a little shaky at first against Marist, and our communication was a little off, but when we played Wagner our defense was phenomenal,” Castle said. “We were trying a bunch of combinations, so some of the players were getting used to different positions that they aren’t typically used to.”
On Saturday the Hoosiers came out sharp on the defensive end by beating No. 23 Marist 9-4 and dominating No. 19 Wagner 10-2. Both games saw the Hoosiers allow fewer goals than their season average of 8.6 per game.
Freshman attacker Joelle Nacouzi scored two quick goals and another in the fourth quarter in IU’s opening game against Marist. Castle praised his freshman attacker for her hat trick and said he is glad she has begun to catch fire in the pool.
“Joelle took a little bit of getting used to when she came in,” Castle said. “She played internationals this summer, and it’s a little different from when we play here. She’s clicked with her teammates, but before she hadn’t had the right set ups for her to finish so for her to get two hat tricks this weekend was outstanding.”
Junior goaltender Jessica Gaudreault managed to save 22 shots against Marist and only let four into the net. Junior defender Kelly Matthews added two goals of her own in the 9-4 win against the Red Foxes.
IU was dominant against Wagner from the start. The Hoosiers shut out the Seahawks through the first three quarters. Nacouzi was among the leading goal scorers again, but this time it was Matthews who earned a hat trick. She scored four goals in a 10-2 win.
On the last day of the Bruno Classic the Hoosiers came up against Azusa Pacific for just the second time in school history. The first matchup was in 2012 when IU came out on top 14-8.
The Hoosiers had the Cougars’ number once more on Sunday, earning an 11-7 victory to complete the perfect weekend for IU. The Hoosiers season record moved to 6-2 with the wins. Gaudreault saved four shots in the win over the Cougars.
Castle said he was very impressed with Gaudreault’s performance in the cage, and he said she stepped into a leadership role that was relatively new for her.
“She was outstanding,” Castle said. “And she took on more of a quarterback role. She’s doing really good this season, and she played so well that we put our backup goaltender, freshman Davis Simmons, in.”
With the defensive effort shown this weekend by IU, it managed to lower its goals allowed average from 8.6 to 7.1 per game. The team’s improvement on the defensive side of the ball was evident at the Bruno Classic, and it will look to lower its average goals allowed even more in two weeks, when IU will return to Bloomington to be host to the Hoosier Invite.
Castle said he was happy with his team’s performance this weekend and he hopes to continue that success the next time the Hoosiers get into the pool.
“We take it one quarter at a time, and beating two top-25 teams is a very good accomplishment,” Castle said. “Wagner was a little gassed coming in, and I thought we took advantage of them well and executed where we needed to.”
