IU 4, Bellarmine 0: Field hockey team dominates in first win

LOUISVILLE -- IU stormed down Interstate 65 Sunday determined to get its first win of the season against Division II Bellarmine University. It turned out the only difficult thing about the day was choosing whether to watch "Goonies" or "The Princess Bride" on the way home. "Goonies" won with a 10-8 vote.\nThe game looked very similar to previous contests, but the major difference was that IU was the dominator, not the dominated. The Hoosiers (1-4) put on a clinic against the Knights, shutting them down, 4-0.\nBoth sides pressured each other equally for most of the first half, until junior forward Brooke Magers ripped a backhand goal off a perfectly placed centering pass from freshman forward Lauren Micka with 8:58 left in the first half. Coach Amy Robertson said she noticed a sudden change in her team's attitude after the Hoosiers' first goal of the season.\n"A great thing for us was putting that first ball behind the goalkeeper," Robertson said. "After that, we stepped up and played with more confidence because we realized that we could do this."\nThe elusive first goal finally came in the fifth game of the season, and it was a relief for the Hoosiers, especially for Magers.\n"It's been hard being an offensive player and not getting any shots on goal, so it was very exciting," Magers said. "We have a lot of hard games ahead of us, but this game will give us the confidence we need."\nMicka slapped in a goal of her own off a penalty corner five minutes after the first goal. IU's pressure never relented.\nAs soon as the second half began, the Knights were in trouble. Sophomore midfielder Erica Nilsson darted past defenders and flicked a goal past the keeper eight minutes into the half. Magers launched a shot from the outside to add another insurance goal two minutes later.\nAfter last week's busy day in the cage, senior goalkeeper Alexandra Kaufman said she enjoyed an easy shutout.\n"It's a great day when you don't get any action in goal," Kaufman said. "We came in thinking that both teams were equal and whoever played their best would come out with the 'W.'"\nRobertson said she viewed the game as a great learning experience for the team and enjoys seeing her team improve every week.\n"With this behind us, we understand what it takes to move the ball up the field and get it into scoring position, and that's only going to help us," Robertson said. "We're playing really good defense. Even though this was a very attacking game, we played defense very well when we had to."\nAlthough IU dominated Bellarmine, the Hoosiers must redirect attention to a difficult weekend when they travel to Pennsylvania to challenge Bucknell University and Penn State.\n"This win came at a perfect time," Micka said. "We're starting to play some really serious Big Ten teams, and we got rid of all our timidity in our offense. We took some big risks and they just happened to pay off"