IU field hockey traveled out east for a pair of top-20 matchups against Rutgers and Maryland this weekend. IU struggled, falling in both matches, 3-2 against Rutgers and 6-0 against Maryland.
Against Rutgers, IU found some offense early on, with goals from senior forward Sheridan Weiss and sophomore forward Hailey Couch propelling the Hoosiers to a 2-1 halftime lead in Piscataway, New Jersey.
The Hoosiers conceded an equalizer midway through the third quarter to junior back Kerrie Burns. Then, with 53 seconds left in regulation, Burns found the game-winning goal off of the Scarlet Knights’ 11th penalty corner of the day from Rutgers senior back and team captain Austyn Cueno.
The loss was the 5th straight for IU and dropped them to 4-8 and 1-4 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers were held without a shot in the fourth quarter and only had five shots for the entire match. The Scarlet Knights had five in the fourth quarter alone and 20 for the match.
Sophomore goalkeeper Shelby Querry was able to withstand the barrage until the end, ending the game with seven saves until they pulled her to have an extra offensive player for the last 50 seconds.
IU traveled south Sunday to College Park, Maryland and the Terrapins played like the national title contenders, taking down the Hoosiers 6-0. Four different players scored for Maryland, as IU falls to 4-9 coming home to play its final home match of the season against Iowa on Friday.
Maryland improved to 13-1 after the win, as it leads in the Big Ten standings at an undefeated 5-0 in the conference. Maryland’s only loss came to then-No. 3 Duke University in its fourth game of the season.
IU falls to 1-5 in the conference, which would place it at the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and set up a rematch with Michigan State, the team they beat in the Big Ten and who currently has no wins in the conference at 0-4.
