Field hockey ends regular season with loss

Despite five more shot attempts and twice as many penalty corner opportunities as Northwestern, the IU field hockey team still lost to Northwestern 3-1 on Saturday.

The loss dropped the Hoosiers (7-10, 1-5) to last place in the Big Ten and will give them the lowest seed in this week’s Big Ten tournament in Bloomington.

In a battle to avoid the bottom spot in the conference standings, the IU-Northwestern game appeared statistically to be in the Hoosiers’ control. Northwestern gave up nine penalty corners to the Hoosiers in the second half, compared to IU’s two allowed in the half. IU also had 15 shots (nine on goal), while Northwestern only had 10  (six on goal).

However, the most important stat – the final score – favored the Wildcats. Northwestern capitalized on one penalty corner in each half and added another score to come out with the win on their Senior Day.

Northwestern’s win was its first and only regular-season conference victory.

“Ironically, we played one of our better games of the season (Saturday),” IU coach Amy Robertson said. “The shots just weren’t going in the goal for us today.”

Robertson said the first 10 minutes of the game were one of the best segments of field hockey she has seen her team play all season. Capped by junior forward Haley Funk’s goal in the fifth minute to give the team a 1-0 lead, the IU offense was passing well and staying aggressive, Robertson said.

“Our offense was so aggressive, it probably left our defense a little vulnerable,” she said.

The “playing well, but losing” trend has been a theme for the Hoosiers all season.
In close losses to Wake Forest and Penn State, both ranked in the top 10 in the national coaches poll, IU gave up late goals to let each game slip from their control.

Now, IU takes its record into the Big Ten tournament with the lowest seed. With only seven Big Ten teams having a field hockey team, the No. 7-seed Hoosiers, who host the tournament, will face whichever team earns the No. 2 seed.

“We’re still looking to do some damage,” junior midfielder Meg O’Connell said. “We still think we can get the first-round upset.”

No matter who they play, O’Connell and Robertson said there is an advantage in having the lowest seed. The next highest seed will play Michigan State, a team that beat the Hoosiers 9-1 this season.