Group faces ranked foe at home

This Saturday, IU field hockey takes on the No. 16 Northwestern Wildcats at 1 p.m. in Bloomington.

Last weekend the Hoosiers (8-5, 1-2) lost to Michigan State 6-2 on Friday and beat Central Michigan 3-1 on Saturday.

Northwestern leads the series 6-4, with a 3-2 victory last year in Evanston, Ill.
“Last year we had amazing opportunities, but couldn’t finish on the goal,” junior forward Lena Grote said.

On the other side, the Wildcats have the second best overall record in the Big Ten at 12-4.

First-year Northwestern field hockey coach Tracey Fuchs has changed their style of play from defense to attack on offense.

“Their defense is vulnerable because they attack so much,” IU coach Amy Robertson said.

The goals for the Hoosiers are very spread out with seven goals by freshman forward Morgan Fleetwood and four goals by senior forward Alina Valenti compared to Northwestern, who has one sophomore standout.

“Whenever we play Northwestern its always a battle because they are a scrappy team,” senior back Lucy Ireland said.

Northwestern’s star sophomore midfielder, Chelsea Armstrong, has 21 goals for the season, which accounts for a third of the goals for the Wildcats.

The Aussie midfielder has also had 12 assists in the 16 games they’ve played.
But, she will have to get past junior defender Mutsa Mutembwa, who tied the IU career record for defensive saves at seven last weekend.

This game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network on Sunday at 12 p.m. because of a tape delay.

 “We are just working out some kinks on our press, but if we fix that we should be ready for Saturday,” Grote said.