Hoosiers optimistic about weekend matches

Coming off two disappointing losses last weekend to Northwestern and Louisville, the IU field hockey team will conclude its three game home stand today against Michigan State at 3 p.m. at the Mellencamp Pavilion.\nFollowing the Louisville match, where the Hoosiers fell 3-0 to the No. 9 ranked Cardinals, freshman back Clara Loots was pleased with the team\'s play. But Loots expressed disappointment with IU\'s inability to score goals.\n"I'm proud of the way we are playing and progressing, we are getting so much better," she said. "We are doing things together, not as individuals. But it's frustrating, it sucks that we aren't scoring. I don't know what else we can do to score. Hopefully if we continue to play well, it will come."\nBut the Spartans pose another difficult opponent for this young Hoosier squad which has posted a 1-9 record. Michigan State is ranked No. 6 nationally with a 10-4 record on the season and a 2-1 record in Big Ten conference play.\nThe Spartans and Hoosiers have played four common opponents this year in Stanford, Northwestern, Central Michigan and Michigan. IU is winless in those four games while Michigan State is 2-2 with shutouts against Northwestern and Central Michigan and both losses coming from 2-1 scores against Stanford and Michigan.\nIU head coach Amy Robertson said she believes her team can compete with Michigan State if they attack the Spartans and open up the field to utilize their quickness against the physically bigger Michigan State team.\n"Michigan State is not killing teams," Robertson said. "If we play really strong defensively, that will help us generate attacks. But we have to be patient in the circle, because if we give up a lot of corners they will capitalize. We need to pass around them and pass early. We can't take them on one on one and have to really open up big spaces."\nThe Hoosiers have already played two top ten teams -- No. 2 Michigan and No. 9 Louisville. Freshman midfielder Kayla Bashore believes those games will help IU know the competition they face in Michigan State.\n "I think playing those tough teams definitely has helped us prepare for Michigan State," Bashore said. "Those teams are so much tougher and faster and it helps our level rise to theirs and I think that helps us prepare for the game after we play a top ten team."\nAfter hosting the Spartans, the Hoosiers will travel to St. Louis, Mo., Sunday to square off at 4 p.m. The Billikens will bring a 4-8 record into the contest. This match was supposed to be played Sept. 16, but was re-scheduled following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.\nFreshman forward Ryan Woolsey thinks the Hoosiers have come a long way since the time they would have originally faced Saint Louis.\n"I think between September and now we have improved a ton," Woolsey said. "I don't know how much our stick skills have improved, but our mentality and intelligence on the field has definitely improved."\nRobertson said he is optimistic about her team's match-up with the Billikens, especially if the Hoosiers perform well against the Spartans.\n"If we play up to the level of Michigan State, we want to sustain that for our game on Sunday," she said. "If we play the way we are capable of, we will have a lot of opportunities on Sunday"