When Indiana field hockey left for its West Coast road trip last week, they had yet to win a game this season after two games. However, Indiana left the weekend adding three wins to its season tally.
After battling to two overtime victories against Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley on Friday and Saturday, respectively, Indiana shut out the University of California, Davis to return home a perfect 3-0 on the weekend.
Coming into its Friday night matchup at Stanford, Indiana was winless — having lost to Kent State University and No. 6-ranked Liberty University to start the season. Even more, they had yet to score a goal.
[Related: Indiana field hockey drops contests against Kent State, No. 6 Liberty]
After ending regulation tied 2-2 against Stanford, Indiana went into overtime potentially looking at a third straight loss to begin its season.
That was until the 68th minute, when sophomore midfielder Maggie Carter found the back of the net for the 3-2 win. Before Carter’s heroic shot, it was freshman midfielder Jule Hufer who scored the first two goals of her career to send the Hoosiers to overtime.
After Friday night's nailbiter, Indiana was only getting started. The next day, Indiana traveled to Berkeley, California, to play California for the first meeting between the programs since 2015 where the Hoosiers lost 2-1.
Both teams ended the first half scoreless, with great defense being shown on both sides. Despite an uneventful first half, the offense picked up drastically in the second half. California's senior backfielder and midfielder Hanna Winn and junior forward Sara Stone both scored within five minutes out of the break.
Things started looking bleak for Indiana as they entered the final quarter down 0-2. However, as the final quarter started, junior forward Jemima Cookson scored to bring the Hoosiers within one goal. Six minutes later in the 54th minute, she scored again to tie it up 2-2. For the second consecutive day, Indiana had fought back from behind, but this time was led by Cookson.
With under 60 seconds on the clock in overtime, freshman midfielder and forward Anna Mozeleski had a chance to win it for Indiana. Mozeleski stepped up and rifled a shot left of the keeper for the game winner for the Hoosiers second 3-2 overtime win in a row.
After the back-to-back overtime wins against Stanford and Cal, Indiana finished its West Coast road trip against UC Davis on Labor Day.
The Hoosiers took control early on by going up 1-0 just seven minutes into the match thanks to Mozelski. In the second half, it was sophomore forward Kayla Kiwak who sealed the Hoosier win with a goal off of an assist from Cookson in the 54th minute.
Despite the shutout win, the Hoosiers took just 11 shots — with four of them on goal — compared to the Aggies' 21. However, only 7 of those 21 shots were on the goal.
Indiana takes on Ball State University at home at 3 p.m. this Friday, and Bellarmine University at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. After the two-game weekend spurt in Bloomington, the Hoosiers will open up Big Ten play at Iowa on Sept. 16.
