Field hockey team falls to Spartans in Big Ten Championship match

The No. 18 Hoosiers (14-6, 4-2) rode a five-game winning streak heading into the Big Ten Tournament. They continued it by defeating Northwestern and Penn State en route to the finals.

The quest for a Big Ten title and an eighth consecutive win came down to a matchup against No. 8 Michigan State, the last team to beat IU before its streak began.

Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, history repeated itself as IU fell 3-2 in the Big Ten Championship game Sunday.

“We came to play with intensity from the start of the game,” freshman forward Morgan Fleetwood said.

IU got off to an early lead with a goal from senior forward Haley Funk off a penalty stroke in the 14th minute.

Sophomore back Brenna Moeljadi had a big defensive save to keep Michigan State forward Manouk Vernij from scoring early in the first half.

“The flurry of goals at the end of the half wasn’t good for our side,” IU coach Amy Robertson said.

Right after the Hoosiers took a timeout in the second half, Fleetwood scored with help from an assist by junior midfielder Kelsey Kiper.

Fleetwood’s goal was her fourth of the tournament and made her second all-time in the IU single-season record book in goals with 15.

“Our team played awesome, and it showed from how tough we played throughout the game,” junior goalkeeper Alex Mann said.

IU wasn’t able to score in the last 18 minutes because of some impressive saves from goalkeeper Elissa Unger.

Unger was the Big Ten tournament MVP after earning seven saves in the Championship game.

Mann had six saves in the championship game and 15 saves in the tournament.

Michigan State’s offensive attack proved to be greater than IU’s with shots 16-14, and they had 10 corners to the Hoosiers’ six.

“We learned from this tournament that our team can play under a lot of pressure and that we can dish out our own punishment as well,” Robertson said.

On a positive note, sophomore forward Corey Brautigam and Fleetwood made the 2009 All-Big Ten tournament team.

Last year the Hoosiers finished 7-11, 1-5 to this year’s 14-6, 4-2.

“We made a huge improvement from last year’s last-place finish in the Big Ten to the Championship game this year,” Mann said.

The Hoosiers will find out Tuesday night if they earned a spot in the 16-team NCAA tournament.

“We now have confidence to bring if we make it to the NCAA tournament,” Fleetwood said.