After an unsuccessful road trip last weekend where the Hoosiers went 0-2, IU hits the road again to face No. 24 Iowa on Friday and Saint Louis on Sunday.
Currently IU sits at 5-5 on the season with all losses coming to ranked foes.
IU is now entering the last eight games of the regular season, with six of them being Big Ten Conference games.
“We’ve been working a lot on people in different positions since our lineup has been changing a lot due to injuries," senior forward Abby Urbanek said. "I think this Iowa game can really change how the rest of our season goes, so we can come out and play our game and then go into Sunday with some momentum."
IU as well as Iowa are both searching for their first Big Ten Conference win this season.
Once IU makes a stop in Iowa City they head to Saint Louis to matchup against the Billikens, who they beat 6-0 in the preseason.
The St. Louis game is a homecoming for Urbanek as well as junior forward Claire Woods who played club field hockey there. Woods said she was excited for the game.
"Last year I was injured and didn’t get to play in front of my home crowd," Woods said. "So this year means a lot to me, it’s nice to have your family come.
Woods said the offense is looking to continue to improve against St. Louis and Iowa.
"We are really trying to stay connected on the forward line, play for your teammates not yourself," she said. "It would be great to score some field goals this weekend, our only goal from this past weekend was off a corner”
After a disappointing weekend, IU looks to bounce back and turn their momentum around on this weekend’s road trip.
Coach Amanda Janney said she realizes her team has a lot to build off of and learn from this past weekend and knows this weekend won’t be an easy one either.
“Iowa traditionally is a hard-nosed, well-coached team," Janney said. "We know it is going to be a tough game. We are trying to strengthen our defensive core, more freshmen are getting time on the field. Coming off this weekend we need to score more goals, we need to respond off of goals against and make some changes when approaching the attacking circle."
IU’s game against Iowa can be seen on the Big Ten Network at 4 p.m. Friday, and IU faces off against Saint Louis on Sunday at 1 p.m.
