No. 14 IU looks to snap 2-game losing streak

October has been a long month for the IU field hockey team.\nRewind to the first of the month to a Hoosier team that was on an 11-game winning streak and coming off a victory against the previously unbeaten Ohio State Buckeyes.\nNow fast-forward to the present to where lies a Hoosier team that has lost three of its last five games, including its last two.\n"A season has its ups and downs, and the last two weeks have definitely been our down cycle," IU coach Amy Robertson said.\nAfter a great deal of success earlier in the season, the Hoosiers have fallen on hard times, but that hasn't lowered team morale, Robertson said.\n"Right now, we can go two ways. We can swim through it and get back on the ship, or we can drown," she said. "And I've been sent the message from this team that they've decided to put (the last two games) behind them, focus and prepare for the upcoming game with a lot of confidence."\nThe upcoming game may be IU's biggest challenge of the season. The Hoosiers will conclude their Big Ten regular season this Sunday, when they travel to University Park, Pa., to take on the No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten).\nThe Hoosiers hope history doesn't repeat itself this weekend. In its seven-year existence, the IU field hockey team has never beaten the Nittany Lions. Sunday's game marks the eighth time these two teams have played each other.\n"I have no doubt that we're going to play hard," senior back Morgan Miller said. "It's our last game, so especially for us seniors, it's our last go around, and we'll be ready."\nMiller, a Pennsylvania native, described the last two games as a "mental lapse." The team, she said, didn't play up to its full potential.\n"I think the last couple of games we've been sitting back and waiting for the other team to mess up," Miller said. "We haven't taken the initiative on the field and put pressure on the other team."\nRobertson also said the team has lacked a sense of urgency lately.\n"I think it's a matter of putting better pressure on our opponent and then getting better scoring opportunities on the attacking end," she said.\nThe Hoosiers have failed to score in their last two games, but that hasn't affected the team's offensive psyche.\n"If you think, 'We've got to score since we haven't scored in a couple of games,' then you're not going to score," junior forward Kate O'Connell said. "You have to go in and play, and the scores will come."\nIU might no longer be on a winning streak, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, Robertson said.\n"I think now we have nothing to lose," she said. "You don't have to motivate this team to play against Penn State. It's the one team we've never beaten, so there is nothing to lose. It's not like there is some streak for us on the line."\nRobertson's mentality has rubbed off on her players, who are eager to play in their regular-season finale and wrap up the month of October on a positive note.\n"I think we're going to come out in the first five minutes and bring it to them," O'Connell said.