IU defeats Louisville, falls to Ohio in overtime battles

The IU field hockey team had a weekend determined by late game heroics.

On Friday, the Hoosiers were the beneficiaries of a game-winning shot in overtime from senior forward Morgan Fleetwood that capped a 3-2 victory against the Louisville Cardinals.

On Sunday, IU fell to the Ohio Bobcats in a best-of-five shootout after a 1-1 tie following two overtime periods.

After Friday’s win against Louisville, IU Coach Amy Robertson said she told her team they had a slight advantage over the Cardinals coming into the game.

“I told the team, we actually have a little advantage because we played pretty even with them in the scrimmage, and the score didn’t show how close the game really was,” Robertson said.

Fleetwood helped the Hoosiers get on the board early, scoring just three minutes into the contest. However, Louisville later retaliated with a goal, and the score was tied at one heading into the half.

The Cardinals scored in the 48th minute and had a 2-1 lead until late in the game when sophomore forward Nicole Volgraf scored to tie the game 2-2. The score was 2-2 at the end of regulation.

Just two minutes into the overtime period, Fleetwood found the back of the cage for the game-winning goal for IU.

Although Fleetwood took the shot, she credited her teammates for her ability to keep her composure.

“I really relied on my other teammates,” Fleetwood said. “It helps a lot to look at them and know that they believe in me and we believe in each other.”

The win increased the Hoosiers’ record to 4-0 on the year, with a chance Sunday to go 5-0 for the first time in team history.

But the accomplishment eluded them as they lost to the Ohio Bobcats 2-1 in a shootout. Robertson said the final score was a result of the lack of focus toward the shootout.

“You have to fault me, because we haven’t practiced that a lot.” Roberson said. “I just didn’t think that on this team, no one would score in two overtimes, so that’s something we have to practice so the players can feel really confident.”