IU prepares for another road test this weekend

For the second of eight consecutive games, the IU field hockey team will pack onto the bus and hit the road – hopefully running. This weekend, the Hoosiers (1-1) will travel west to face Missouri State on Saturday and Saint Louis University on Sunday, with both games coming in St. Louis.

“We play these two teams every year,” IU coach Amy Robertson said. “We enjoy the atmosphere and are glad to give them both a home game.”

As for the players, it doesn’t seem like these two teams will be handed much of a home-field advantage.

Senior captain Katie Kiper said the team has been hard at work preparing to deliver this weekend.

“We have conditioned all week and have worked a lot on our fitness,” Kiper said.
Senior co-captain Dani Castro said in order to come out with two wins, the team must put all of the little pieces together and utilize their ability to play their game and play it smart.

“These teams are scrappy, relentless ... the never-seem-to-give-up kind of teams,” Castro said. “We have to play our game and not let them control it.”

In the face of such competition, Robertson is confident her team can get it done.

“If we step it up and correct issues and play our positions, we will set the tone this weekend,” she said. “We needed to improve our organization and practice making decisions quicker during crucial moments of the game.”

However, Robertson admits that it is not so much the end result she is concerned with over the weekend.

“If we continue to improve and go forward I’ll be happy,” she said.

Junior Meg O’Connell is looking forward to the Hoosiers’ trip to St. Louis for a rather different reason. For her, it’s just a trip back home.

“I’m from St. Louis, so a lot of players on these teams went to my high school and played on my high school teams,” O’Connell said. “It will be fun. Our team has never been there, and I know we’ll bring something that I can be proud of.”