IU lacrosse team victorious in 2 games

Fenton, Mo. -- IU lacrosse coach Todd Boward challenged his team to step up its intensity and consistency Saturday night.\nSunday afternoon, it responded.\nAfter a sluggish and sloppy 13-9 win over Missouri State University Saturday, the Hoosier squad rebounded with a physical, cohesive effort to pull out an 11-5 victory against Washington University-St. Louis Sunday at Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo.\n"The captains took charge keeping the team motivated and pumped up before the game," Boward said after Sunday's win. "They were ramped up today."\nEarly on, the team's intensity didn't translate to its on-field play. Washington University attackman Miles Chan netted three goals in the first five minutes of play to put the Hoosiers in a 3-0 hole. IU attackmen Matt Hof and James O'Callaghan responded with two goals apiece in the first half to aid the Hoosier's comeback.\nBut it was IU freshman midfielder Robbie Schwartz who highlighted the team's first-half surge. Schwartz ripped two goals near the end of the second quarter, including one with 15 seconds left before half to break a 4-4 tie and put the Hoosiers up 6-4 at intermission -- a lead they never relinquished.\n"The last shot and the whole last sequence we had a set play and we worked it to perfection," said Schwartz of his goal just before the half. "Everyone got a touch on the ball."\nIn the second half, the Hoosier defense -- accented by the physical play of IU defenseman Dave Friedman -- only allowed the Bears one goal.\n"In the second half, we started communicating a lot more, got our acts together and just followed our game plan that we had from the start," Friedman said. "Everything just started clicking once we started talking as a team."\nSenior goaltender Steve Brown saved 11 of 16 shot attempts.\nThe Hoosiers were also dominant on face-offs thanks to the stick work of midfielder Ryan Furman and long pole midfielder Dan Woods' ability to pick up the ground ball.\n"It's a part of the game that a lot of people overlook, but we look at it as the start of our offense," Boward said.\nFurman won 12 of 15 face-offs and Woods had a total of eight groundball pick-ups for the contest.\nHof added three more goals in the second half while Schwartz and sophomore Nick Brown each netted one. Freshman Chris Allen scored a goal in the second quarter.\nIn Saturday's game against Missouri State, the Hoosiers used a strong second quarter to propel them to their 13-9 win. Junior midfielder Jason Bowman scored two goals during the second quarter, including a left-handed, overhand off-stick hip score.\n"They started shaking off the cobwebs in the second quarter," Boward said.\nHof and O'Callaghan added three goals apiece in the victory, while freshman Brian Mecsey netted two scores. Brown and Schwartz added one each.