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(09/24/10 4:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 2010 Big Ten season offers the Hoosiers an opportunity to do something the program has not yet done: win a conference championship. IU fell a goal short in 2009 when the Hoosiers lost 3-2 to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament on the Spartans’ home field. Junior forward Corey Brautigam said Friday’s conference opener at Penn State is just like any other on the schedule.“It’s just another game. We take one game at a time in order to get where we want to be at the end of the year,” Brautigam said. “This is always our goal — a Big Ten championship. We are the only Big Ten school who has never won.”IU coach Amy Robertson offered a different perspective on beginning the conference portion of the Hoosiers’ schedule, saying the team’s 4-2 record is a prologue to the next chapter in IU’s season.“Now that we enter the Big Ten, the possibilities are out there,” Robertson said. “What sort of team are we going to be now in the Big Ten conference? It’s like a whole new season. What we’ve done before has been preparation for this.”When the Hoosiers face off with the Nittany Lions in State College, Pa., IU will face a team with momentum. Penn State is on a four-game winning streak, outscoring those opponents 13-2.Robertson dismissed the significance of such statistics.“I don’t even look at that they won,” Robertson said. “I’m looking at personnel and how we match up against that.”Brautigam agreed Penn State’s success has a small role in how the Hoosiers prepare.“We’ve tried to focus on our play and fix our mistakes instead of focusing on the other team,” she said. “We know that Penn State is a good team. We know some of their tendencies.”
(09/22/10 4:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Lena Grote and her younger sister, Mariella, each began their field hockey careers as freshmen at Saint Ursula Academy in Cincinnati. While in high school, the sisters had an opportunity to play together for one year before Lena graduated and moved on to IU.Now, the Grote sisters have an opportunity to play together one more year — this time as Hoosiers.Lena — now a senior forward for the Hoosiers — has been a staple in the team’s attack as a key reserve since last season and is now a starter in 2010. Meanwhile, Mariella has seen reserve minutes as a freshman.Lena said their mother instilled in her daughters the love of the sport.“My mom played field hockey for a year in college,” Lena said. “So that’s how she talked my older sister into playing. Then I started and it kind of continued down on to Mariella.”Despite all three sisters playing, Lena downplayed the thought of sibling rivalry.“It was never a rivalry. I was the one in between both of them,” she said. “There was never really true rivalry between the two of us.”The eldest Grote sister briefly pursued playing field hockey as a walk-on in college, but opted not to play. However, she did lead her younger sisters to IU coach Amy Robertson. “She recruited me and I came on board,” Lena said. “I loved it. She’s the one who got me into it so I stuck with it. Once I came here, Mariella followed in my footsteps.”* * *With limited in-state recruiting options, Robertson always looks for recruits elsewhere. That’s how she found the Grote sisters.The Indiana High School Athletic Association does not sponsor field hockey as a varsity high school sport. Additionally, only two universities, IU and Ball State, have teams. This presents Robertson with a unique recruiting challenge. The closest place to watch recruits is Louisville and Cincinnati, Robertson said.“They’re a couple hours away. After that, it’s many hours away,” Robertson said. “You’re not doing any in-state travel. You have to really teach the players that come here how important it is to have pride in Indiana and what it means to be a Hoosier.”And, Lena said, the Grotes are an IU family.“We all have a lot of pride in IU. It’s been a big part of our blood ever since my older sister came here. My dad is a Hoosier as well,” she said.* * *When Robertson heard the elder Grote sister thought highly of IU, she was delighted.“As soon as I found out that their sister was here and she loved it, I knew it was going to be a much easier sell to get them to buy into what Indiana was all about,” Robertson said.The Grote family’s ties to IU convinced Mariella to follow in her sisters’ footsteps.“It’s what made my decision,” Mariella said. “I was between Ohio State and IU. It came down to the last day where I had to make my final decision. I weighed between family and strangers. I had to go with family.”Robertson said she could tell there was a bond with the sisters.“I pretty much knew once Lena came here, I almost would have had to chase Mariella away because they’re very close with one another,” she said. For Mariella, choosing to play field hockey at IU meant one more year of playing with her older sister.“The thought of playing with her in college was more than I could ask for,” she said.
(09/21/10 7:14pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU coach Amy Robertson preaches taking advantage of goal-scoring opportunities, being efficient offensively and possessing the ball.In an early season 4-2 win against California, the Hoosiers did just that as they scored four times on only nine shots on goal.“When we connected, we really connected,” senior midfielder Kelsey Kiper said. “It was throughout all of the lines. When we got it out of the circle, we really took advantage of being in transition. ...That really keeps the defense on their feet.”With 15 goals and 36 points, last season’s leading scorer and now-sophomore forward Morgan Fleetwood’s role in the Hoosiers’ attack is of great significance.In the first four games of the season, Fleetwood tallied a team-leading 15 shots on goal. “Morgan is so strong,” Robertson said. “She’s very confident. She’s got great skill. Her mentality is ‘I’m going to score a goal.’ If she hasn’t scored, even if we win, she’s pretty let-down because she has taken as her ownership on this team to score goals.”The key to the Hoosiers’ success could be offensive efficiency. Building the attack through the midfielders to create 2-on-1 situations allows more favorable scoring opportunities, Robertson said.“If you don’t build the ball up, and you just hit it to the forwards, they’ve got numbers down every time,” Robertson said. IU’s success starts with being stout defensively, Robertson said. The team produces significant offense from transition opportunities.“Build numbers, create 2-v-1s, possess the ball and move it so you find more space on the field,” Robertson said.
(09/21/10 6:50pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU field hockey team is seeking to build on last season’s 4-2 record in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers will begin working toward that goal in their Big Ten opener Sept. 24 at Penn State.For a Big Ten team to beat the Hoosiers, senior midfielder Kelsey Kiper said it has to defeat the way they play. Regardless of whom IU opposes, the Hoosiers must adhere to what makes them successful. “We always focus on playing Indiana hockey,” Kiper said. “Whatever the teams might throw at us, I think that if you change your structure, if you change how you play according to a team, you can never build your own attack. You can never have your own mentality as a team.“People aren’t going to be ‘Indiana’s really good at this’ because we’re constantly changing our structure. We have to define who we are so that they can be on their toes.”Resilience is also necessary for success, according to freshman back Danielle McNally.“If we get inside our head, then we’ve already lost,” McNally said.Sophomore forward Shareyna Chang said IU must reflect on its Sept. 11 loss to Miami when they open conference play.“We’re going to have to find it within ourselves to never have this feeling ever again, to ever walk off our field knowing that we just fought for two 35-minute halves and didn’t get the results that we want,” Chang said.IU coach Amy Robertson said she wants her team to play with confidence during the Big Ten schedule.Kiper made it clear IU will not change their style based on the opponent.“We’re going to keep playing Indiana hockey,” she said.
(09/20/10 3:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Winning a Big Ten championship entered IU coach Amy Robertson’s mind after Friday’s 2-1 victory against Miami of Ohio, handing the RedHawks their first loss.“It was really a special game because of how we played,” Robertson said. “We battled. We kept composure. We found solutions. It was all over the team. Everyone worked hard for 70 minutes. There was just something I haven’t seen in the IU program in a few years. I thought it was a huge turning point.“It incited the belief in me that we could win a Big Ten championship if we’re able to play like that and keep growing off of that performance.”IU then put on a dominating first-half performance against Missouri State on Sunday.Sophomore forward Morgan Fleetwood got the Hoosiers on the scoreboard 9:21 into the contest when she collected a loose ball in the circle and scored.The Hoosiers tallied two more goals in the first half when sophomore forward Shareyna Chang added her third goal of the season from a pass by junior back Brenna Moeljadi.Junior forward Corey Brautigam caged her first goal of the season with three minutes remaining in the first half, and the Hoosiers took a 3-0 lead into halftime.The Hoosiers added a fourth goal less than five minutes into the second half when Moeljadi fired a shot that deflected off the foot of an opponent.Missouri State scored its lone goal in the 48th minute.On Friday, IU defeated the RedHawks when Chang scored the deciding goal in the 67th minute.“It’s extra special,” Chang said. “Miami of Ohio is a team we really push ourselves every time we play. It’s always a fight. It was a little bit more for me to score that game-winning goal. It was a really exciting moment, and I was happy to celebrate it with my teammates.”
(09/17/10 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the Hoosiers’ four games thus far, opponents have played varied styles. IU coach Amy Robertson said that has helped to point out some flaws.“We’ve played three or four very different teams in the four games that we’ve started with, and it’s helped us learn how to play against different teams and the way we play against certain styles,” Robertson said. “We’ve really worked on some details of our game, and getting better in areas that teams were taking advantage of, with a lot of pride and focus.”When the Hoosiers take on Miami (OH) in Oxford, Ohio on Friday, perhaps there will be a small amount of familiarity.The Hoosiers defeated the RedHawks 6-4 in their first preseason contest Aug. 18 in Bloomington. Things, though, have changed since then, said senior forward Lena Grote.“We beat them in preseason. It was a different team,” Grote said. “We’ve clicked as a team. Going to Ohio to defeat them will be fun.”The Hoosiers face Missouri State on Sunday. The Hoosiers are giving every opponent their utmost respect and attention, Grote said.“We have two games. We want two victories.”Robertson wants to see her team apply some things they’ve seen watching film and continue to do what makes them successful.“Part of it has been being more confident in our outletting because we’re creating things off our structure and not necessarily taking advantage of it,” Robertson said. “We watched video today, and it’s sort of an epiphany of ‘Oh, wow, that really is available!’Our attack is getting stronger and stronger. We were really unfortunate to only come away with only one goal in the Ohio game. We had a lot of corners. We were just unlucky that day. We’re focusing on making sure we’re able to finish and getting more shots.”— Micah McVicker
(09/13/10 3:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ostensibly, Ohio looked like the far superior team in the first half as it rebounded from a 4-2 loss to California on Friday. The Bobcats came ready to play Saturday, defeating the Hoosiers 2-1 at home. IU coach Amy Robertson said she knew Ohio would begin the game with intensity.“She told us not to underestimate them and that we should come out and play as hard as we would with any other team,” sophomore forward Shareyna Chang said.The Hoosiers did not match Ohio’s intensity, Robertson said.“We had extremely poor effort in our first half,” she said. “We didn’t play as a team. We recognized it was going to be a no-win situation if we kept playing the way we did in the first half. It wasn’t the best IU field hockey game today.”Robertson praised the Bobcats’ performance.“Ohio played a very smart, strategic game,” she said. “They took the opportunities when they created them.”The Bobcats pounced on IU early, tallying a goal just under two minutes into the game off a penalty corner.“It’s hard when the other team scores first. But we always try to play hard the next five minutes,” freshman back Danielle McNally said. “You could tell we were down on ourselves a little bit. We try to fight through everything. It’s mostly a mental game.”IU exited the first period trailing 1-0.McNally elaborated how Robertson spent halftime.“She made us realize that we weren’t playing IU field hockey, and we dug deep down inside of us and tried to come out and win it,” she said. “We played the hardest we could, and evidently we didn’t play enough in the first half.”Chang tallied the sole Hoosier goal, drawing the team even with Ohio 3:44 into the second half. Off a quick restart, Chang dribbled into the right side of the circle and fired a shot that deflected off the foot of a Bobcat player.“I think we started playing a little bit more like ourselves in the second half,” Robertson said. “We made some adjustments, pointed out some things.”Those adjustments paid immense dividends as IU attempted 14 shots in the second half and tallied nine penalty corners. Those numbers contrasted sharply to the Hoosiers’ offensive attack in the first half, where IU attempted two shots and amassed two penalty corners.“We did create a lot more opportunities,” Robertson said. “We just unfortunately didn’t find the back of the net,”IU did not coerce Ohio to alter their style. Subsequently, IU fell.“We weren’t really playing IU hockey. We all knew that,” Chang said. “We had to pick it up and to do what we know — little passes, to find each other and to connect. It just wasn’t enough.”
(09/10/10 2:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Each time California scored, IU answered with a goal of its own, en route to a 4-2 win Thursday the 2010 home opener.IU coach Amy Robertson said the team took advantage of its opportunities.“We’ve got goal scorers. If we have those kind of looks, it’s a pretty good chance we’re going to produce a goal,” Robertson said. “If we’re going to score four goals and have eight shots on goal, I’m very happy with that.”The Hoosiers opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game when senior midfielder Kelsey Kiper scored off a rebound. That goal set the tone for the Hoosiers.“When we start off a game that well, and start connecting, then it flows throughout the rest of the game,” Kiper said.Junior back Brenna Moeljadi agreed.“We started off strong, really connected well. I think it translated to the goals we got,” she said.IU increased their lead 12 minutes later when senior forward Lena Grote put in a pass from sophomore forward Morgan Fleetwood. Fleetwood went on to tally four points — one goal and two assists — on the game.California scored off a penalty corner 24 minutes into the contest with the goal from midfielder Rosa Stabler.IU responded to Cal’s first tally at the 44:47 mark when junior forward Jacyln Zamudio scored on a pass from Fleetwood.“We start off strong in the first five minutes of the game, and five minutes after any goal scored, we reminded ourselves that we need to pick up the teamwork,” Moeljadi said.Cal cut its deficit 15 minutes into the second half when midfielder Andrea Earle scored off of a penalty corner.Fleetwood concluded the scoring in the 61st minute when she won a ball in the circle and placed it in the left corner of the cage.“When an opponent scores on you, you’re always thinking in your head ‘What am I supposed to do to improve? Why did that goal happen? What can we do to prevent it next time?’ That’s our mentality — to continue to be tough as we go throughout the game,” Kiper said.IU got a scare when freshman back Danielle McNally was hit above her right eye in the second half. She got up and walked off the field under her own power. She received seven stitches. Robertson said she’ll be ready for the team’s next game Saturday against Ohio.“It’s a clean cut. She’s stitched up. If it wasn’t so big, she could’ve gone back in. There was no situation of a concussion,” Robertson said. “She’s also really tough. That’s exactly the kind of mentality you want out of a backfield player. "She said on the sidelines, ‘Can I go back in?’ You want them to say that. That’s a good thing. She’s cleared to go.”The field hockey team will face Ohio at 2 p.m. Saturday at the IU Field Hockey Field.
(09/09/10 11:41pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Field Hockey team defeated California today 4-2. Each time Cal scored, the team answered with a goal of their own leading the Hoosiers to a win for the 2010 home opener.The Hoosiers (2-1) opened the scoring in the first three minutes when senior midfielder Kelsey Kiper scored off of a rebound. That goal set the tone for the No. 17 Hoosiers.“When we start off a game that well, and start connecting, then it flows throughout the rest of the game,” Kiper said.IU increased its lead 12 minutes later when senior forward Lena Grote put home a pass from sophomore forward Morgan Fleetwood. Fleetwood went on to tally four points — one goal and two assists — on the game.California scored off a penalty corner 24 minutes into the contest on a goal from midfielder Rosa Stabler.Indiana responded to Cal’s first tally at the 44:47 mark when junior Jacyln Zamudio scored off a pass from Fleetwood.Cal cut their deficit fifteen minutes into the second half when Andrea Earle scored off a penalty corner.Fleetwood concluded the scoring in the 61st minute when she won a ball in the circle and placed it in the left corner of the cage.“When an opponent scores on you, you’re always thinking in your head ‘What am I supposed to do to improve? Why did that goal happen? What can we do to prevent it next time?’ Kiper said. “That’s our mentality: To continue to be tough as we go throughout the game.”
(09/09/10 2:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU field hockey team opens the home portion of its 2010 campaign today, welcoming to town the Golden Bears of California after a 2-1 victory over Massachusetts on Aug. 29.“We had a whole week, so it was like having an extra preseason to get back to all those things we needed to improve upon,” IU coach Amy Robertson said.The team spent plenty of time working on the nuances of its game in the 11 days since its last contest.“We’ve fine-tuned the details of our game,” Robertson said. “We’ve been working on our team defense and in attack, working together better to produce better goal-scoring opportunities. We’ve had a lot more time to practice our penalty corner defense and attack, which are set pieces really vital to success. We really focused a lot more on our defense after our first weekend.”Senior forward Lena Grote pointed to the adjustments the team made while in Amherst, Mass. for the UMass Invitational.“From the first game to the second game, we improved,” she said. “We’re trying to focus on keeping up that momentum that we gained in that second game. We were very successful in working with our midfielders, sort of inside-outside and building up the play whereas the first game we just trying to force it.”Additionally, the Hoosiers studied Cal on film. Watching the Golden Bears somewhat reminded Robertson of the team she coaches every day.“We respect Cal and the program they have,” Robertson said. “They’re solid and they have great structure. We play very similar to them. It’s almost like playing ourselves. We have to come out and make sure that we finish on opportunities, and we’re the team that has the competitive edge playing at home.” Grote agreed that the Hoosiers and Golden Bears have similar playing styles.“Like us, they’re a very structured team,” Grote said. “So we’re going to focus on beating their structure. We’re going to bring our forwards back to try and defend the middle.” Robertson demonstrated great respect for Cal, but she said she’s also ready to play.“We’re excited for a worthy opponent and a great game at home,” she said.
(08/30/10 4:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The potency of the IU field hockey team’s offensive attack jumped significantly in its second game against Massachusetts on Sunday in the UMass Invitational. IU attempted seven shots in the first half of its contest against the Minutewomen after attempting just one against Boston College on Saturday.“We were a completely different team from yesterday,” IU coach Amy Robertson said. “We moved the ball in a much more intelligent way, which allowed us to get into our circle with space and numbers. We just trusted each other today.” Sophomore forward Brooke Borneman broke through with the first score in the 37th minute.“We were all just really excited,” Borneman said. “We’d been playing really well. We were glad that it finally turned into a goal and that we were on the board after a lot of hard work.”Borneman broke down how the play developed.“The ball came out of the circle and came to the person on the corner,” she said. “She dribbled it in and took a shot. It came to the right post. That’s where I was, and I [put] it into the goal.”Junior back Brenna Moeljadi added a second goal in the 42nd minute. Massachusetts forward Katie Kelly countered, tallying a goal in the 57th minute.IU escaped a Minutewomen penalty corner in the final minute to earn a 2-1 victory and salvage a split of its games in the Bay State.“I was really confident with us,” junior goalkeeper Becky Pany said. “I knew we’d be able to get it out. We practice defensive corners every day. We were all pretty calm in the back. I don’t know how everyone else was doing, but we were good.”However, zeroes told the story on the scoreboard in the first half of IU’s season-opening contest against Boston College.Pany excelled in the cage in the second half as she tallied five saves on seven Boston College shots before the Eagles broke through on a goal by midfielder Emily Kozniuk in the 50th minute.The Eagles held on to defeat the Hoosiers, 1-0.In her second collegiate start, Pany recorded three saves on six shots in the first half.However, IU could not match Pany’s production on offense, managing just one shot in each half.The Hoosiers’ offensive attack improved in the second half. IU had an opportunity to take the lead in the 38th minute with a shot from sophomore forward Morgan Fleetwood, but Kristine Stigas, the Eagles’ goalkeeper, was there to record her lone save.Robertson advised her players to put the loss behind them going into the Massachusetts game Sunday.“I said, ‘You have a choice: You can either dwell on the loss or you can choose to be extra motivated and hungry and figure out a way to be a better team,’” she said.Pany saw the difference in the team’s play in the Hoosiers’ second contest.“I think as a whole, we came out as a team,” she said. “We didn’t play as individuals like we did the day before (against Boston College).”
(08/27/10 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Following a 2-0 loss to Wake Forest in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, IU coach Amy Robertson, who enters her 11th season at the helm of the No. 17 IU field hockey team, described what she wanted to see her team improve upon this year.“Goal scoring efficiency and mentality here in training so that it shows up in the games, and games may be a little easier than our training,” Robertson said.The Hoosiers posted a 14-7 record in 2009 and are seeking to build upon last season’s berth in the Big Ten championship game by defeating the Demon Deacons. IU returns 13 letterwinners from the 2009 season, including senior goalkeeper Alex Mann, who posted a 1.89 goals against average last season.Robertson offered high praise for her goalkeeper.“Her teammates trust her,” she said. “She has great composure, and she’s constantly directing the defense, which allows her to have to take shots from the places where you want to take them. She’s great back there.”Mann deflected the credit.“Whatever gets through my defense eventually gets to me, so I try to set them the best that I can so that, ultimately, I don’t have to touch the ball that much,” she said. “It’s all about communicating to the defense and setting them up for success.”Offensively, last season’s leading scorer, sophomore forward Morgan Fleetwood, returns for the 2010 campaign. Fleetwood earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors after her 2009 campaign in which she scored 15 goals and tallied 36 points.“I’m going to have to work with my teammates, and this year especially, I’m going to be thinking more of how can I set my teammates up for success if there’s going to be double-teams,” Fleetwood said. “I’m focusing more on working with my teammates and setting them up.” Last season, IU played on the Big Ten Network once. However, the Hoosiers are set to appear on the conference’s national station twice in 2010.“It’s nice because people who can’t come to the games — friends, family, prospects — have a chance to see our style and our team,” Robertson said. “I think it’s a huge bonus and positive. This is a welcome change for us.” Mann said the team was excited to have an extra game shown on television this season.“That’s showing that our program is getting better, and it’s something that people need to be watching,” Mann said.Thoughts on the Hoosiers’ No. 17 ranking in the Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Preseason Poll varied from coach to player.Robertson said she appreciates the recognition.“I didn’t know what we were ranked,” the coach said. “Preseason is really just a guess for everyone. But it’s nice to have the respect from the other programs in the country. We’ll take that as a positive.”Mann offered a contrasting perspective.“It doesn’t really mean anything just because it’s a preseason poll,” she said. “It’s a marker for us, and we want to keep increasing that number throughout the season. It’s just a starting point.” The Hoosiers open the 2010 season Saturday in Amherst, Mass. against Boston College and play California in their 2010 home debut at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 9.