Coming off a 12-0 victory over Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania - Lock Haven on Friday, Indiana field hockey continued its winning ways Sunday. The Hoosiers were dominant again offensively — having 38 shots and 23 of those on goal — to defeat Saint Francis University 5-1.
Last game, the Hoosiers’ 48 shots were second in program history for shots in a contest. And today, 38 attempts land the Crimson and Crimson fifth in the same category.
“We’re just trying to give them a little more confidence when they’re getting in that (shooting) circle,” Indiana head coach Kayla Bashore said. “A little more aggression at goal, and even on (attacking penalty corners).”
The Hoosiers had five different goal scorers. Freshman back Lily Freeman scored the first goal of her career, while the others added onto their season total.
“Having a really deep bench is really important at any given moment,” senior back Emma Thompson said. “It’s important knowing that anyone could be on the field at any given moment, and we’re still going to put our best effort out there and perform.”
Defensively, the Hoosiers only allowed three shots and two on goal, which both came in the 53rd minute. Saint Francis' leading scorer's — sophomore midfielder Sofia Marciano, and sophomore midfielder Addie Sholly — combined for one shot during the whole game.
Indiana got on the scoreboard in the 17th minute. The Hoosiers had 10 shots in the first quarter, but four of those were saved by Saint Francis junior goalkeeper Mia DiGenova.
“The first quarter, we came out and had a lot of shots, but a lot weren’t going on goal,” Bashore said. “The focus in the second quarter was, ‘let’s test the goalkeeper.’ Get the ball on cage and let’s see what we can try and get in just by applying high pressure.”
A penalty corner was taken by junior forward Theresa Ricci and found sophomore forward Mijntje Hagen, but her shot was saved by DiGenova. However, the ball rebounded to freshman forward Molly Stutte, and a pass deflected off Freeman’s stick into the net.
Indiana got another quick consecutive goal this weekend after a rocket of a shot by senior midfielder Anna Mozeleski found the bottom left of the goal in the 18th minute. Freshman midfielder Georgia Rottinghaus got her first assist of the season after finding a wide-open Mozeleski.
“It’s coming from confidence in the momentum after you score,” Bashore said. “You have a feeling of, ‘yeah, let’s go do it again.’ That just carries into the next goal.”
In the 19th minute, Indiana received a penalty kick attempt after a penalty on the Red Flash in front of the goal. Freshman forward — and leading goal scorer with five this season — Celia Arroyo Cabezudo stepped up to the penalty spot. However, her shot was saved by DiGenova to keep it a 2-0 Indiana lead.
The Hoosiers had a string of penalty corners and shots in the last 10 minutes of the half, but they could not capitalize on any chances before the break.
Coming out of halftime, Indiana scored in the 35th minute. A penalty corner taken by Hagen found junior midfielder Inés Garcia Prado. The Spaniard set up Stutte for the Hoosiers’ third goal.
Junior back Hannah Riddle completed her weekend-long hat trick in the 40th minute after two goals against Lock Haven. After multiple chances for Indiana in front of the net, Riddle cleaned up the opportunities to put the Crimson and Crimson up 4-0.
Indiana got another penalty kick in the 43rd minute. This time, Garcia Prado took the attempt, but her shot was wide of the net.
Saint Francis finally scored in the 53rd minute. A shot by senior defender Madison Waldspurger bounced off sophomore goalkeeper Sadie Canelli, and sophomore forward Kylee Hager tapped the ball in the air to score.
However, the Red Flash could not mount a comeback late in the game after a yellow card on sophomore forward Hannah Capo left them short-handed. The five-minute suspension came in the 56th minute after Capo thought she got fouled in the shooting circle.
Junior forward Ava Winner — who also scored the last goal in the Lock Haven game — finished the Hoosiers’ scoring output in the 57th minute. A turnaround and score by Winner got her second goal this season.
Indiana closes out their six-game homestand at Deborah Tobias Field next weekend. The Hoosiers host the University of Iowa to start their Big Ten Conference games at 4 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday. Coverage for Friday night’s game will be on Big Ten Network before Indiana comes back to Big Ten+ on Sunday.
“We know that seconds can make or break Big Ten games,” Mozeleski said. “We’ve been in positions like that before, so we know that every second counts. Taking care of little details to make sure we’re 100% prepared for the Big Ten.”
Follow reporter Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana field hockey season.
