Louisville ends IU's streak

The No. 11 Hoosiers lost for the first time since Aug. 26 to the University of Louisville 2-0 Friday, snapping their 11-game win streak.\nThe No. 13 Cardinals scored their first goal in the second minute to take a 1-0 lead against the Hoosiers (12-2, Big Ten 3-0). Just 22 seconds later, the Cardinals scored again, which was all they needed to put the Hoosiers away.\n"It was shock," senior back Morgan Miller said. "I think our ranking and being undefeated in the Big Ten got to us a little bit and made us think we would be fine."\nThe Cardinals caught the Hoosiers on their heels after scoring two goals in the first three minutes. On top of that, the Hoosiers usually competent attack was stalling, failing to register a shot attempt for nearly the first 32 minutes.\n"It was a nightmare," IU coach Amy Robertson said after her team found themselves down 2-0. "I was in a nightmare, and I couldn't get out."\nRobertson's nightmare starred a desperate Cardinal team that was much in need of a big victory.\n"Louisville is a very good team that kind of had their backs against the wall," Robertson said. "They've had a couple of losses, they were on a losing skid, and in order to have a chance to get into the NCAA tournament, they knew they had to beat us. We didn't take the game lightly, but they took us by surprise in the first few minutes."\nThe Hoosiers didn't get many opportunities to score in their losing effort, being out shot 15-5. They also failed to draw a penalty corner in the first half, though they managed to get three in the second.\n"If we could take back the first five minutes, we would," freshman forward Alina Valenti said. "After that, it was a well-played game and pretty equal."\nUnlike the second half of Friday's contest, there wasn't much equality in the Hoosiers 9-0 romp of the Lindenwood Lions.\n"After a loss, this is what we needed," Valenti said. "We came out slow on Friday, and our goal was to come out and be aggressive today."\nThe Hoosiers came out strong Sunday, scoring five first-half goals. Valenti, who started her first game of her IU career, scored three of them in a 20-minute span, giving her a hat trick.\n"Alina is the fastest player on our team," Robertson said of the freshman. "She felt confident, she moved and when she had space she went for it, and you can see what happens. That speed is very dangerous against any team."\nValenti scored her first and third goal on tap-ins close to the cage. On Valenti's second goal, the freshman forward gained possession near field, maneuvered her way through the traffic and used her speed to breakaway from a pack of Lindenwood players to score.\nSeven different Hoosiers scored during Sunday's contest. Miller (sixth minute), junior midfielder Meredith Brown (16th), junior Amanda Oyler (29th), sophomore forward Katie Kiper (46th), freshman back Fenna Geuskens (49th) and junior forward Kate O'Connell (60th) all scored against the Lions.\nAfter receiving several awards for her strong play last week, junior goalie Haley Exner sat out Sunday's game, giving sophomore Jobi Manson the starting opportunity in the cage. Manson played perfectly in Exner's absence, although the Lions only managed three shots in the game.\nAlong with Manson, several younger players saw significant playing time in a game that let Robertson briefly showcase the future of IU field hockey.\nMiller, a captain for the Hoosiers, said she and the rest of the captains told the younger players to just do what they do in practice.\n"There are a lot of things people don't see, but some of these people that don't get to play work their butts off in practice, so we have a lot of confidence in them," she said.\nThe Hoosiers entered the game with a few bruises and left with a couple more. After getting the opportunity to start, freshmen Haley Funk and Lucy Ireland were both forced to leave the game in the first half with hand injuries.\n"Some players get in there and play aggressively, and these things happen in field hockey," Robertson said. "Sometimes they happen in numbers; sometimes they don't happen for weeks."\nFunk, Ireland and the rest of the Hoosiers will get an opportunity to rest before they play back-to-back games this weekend at Mellencamp Pavilion. Saturday, the Hoosiers will host Northeastern University at 1 p.m. The next day the Hoosiers resume their Big Ten schedule when they play the University of Michigan.