Team pleased with progress

Heading into its final weekend of regular season play, the field hockey team is concentrating on its own play and improving for the future. The Hoosiers are 1-13 overall and 0-4 in conference play going into the weekend, but Hoosiers said they have come a long way in their second year as a varsity sport.\n"It is awesome to know that we are a second year program, and we can play with some of the best teams in the country," head coach Amy Robertson said. "Who knows what the future holds? We can never be satisfied and we have to keep looking up."\nLast year, the Hoosiers were outscored 4-81 with all four goals coming against Division II opponent Bellarmine. In Big Ten play last year, the Hoosiers didn't even have an offensive shot. While the Hoosiers record does not show their turnaround, they have scored 14 goals and allowed just 48, only suffering two bad losses at the hands of Iowa and Michigan. IU put a scare into No. 6 Michigan State and defeated then No. 26 Ball State for the only Division I victory in school history. \nWhile the Hoosiers are pleased with their improvements this year, freshman forward Kim Nash said IU needs at least one more win to show how far they have come.\n"I think we need another win to end our season to show how far we have come compared to last year and the progress we made throughout the season," Nash said. \nRobertson said the Hoosiers' difficult schedule has given her team invaluable play against strong competition and has helped the team improve.\n"Our tough competition has only brought our level up higher," she said. "We aren't intimidated when we play teams in the top 20 or we play other Big Ten teams, because we are used to it."\nThe Hoosiers take on two more formidable opponents this weekend as they travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State today and then return for their regular season home-finale against Penn State on Sunday at 12 p.m. at the Mellencamp Pavilion.\nComing into the weekend, the Buckeyes are ranked No. 9 with a 12-4 overall record and 4-1 conference record. No. 13 Penn State has an 11-6 overall mark and 2-3 conference mark. The Nittany Lions have won their last seven games, allowing only four goals in those seven matches.\nIn last year's match against the Buckeyes, IU was shutout 8-0, and in two matches against Penn State the Hoosiers were outscored 17-0. But senior co-captain Akila Jones believes that IU can turn the tables and play both the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions competitively.\n"Any team can beat anyone else on a given day...we just have to come out and try to play our best," she said.\nTo combat the offensive attacks of the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions, Robertson said the Hoosiers are trying to step up their intensity and focus on defense.\n"We are working on having more aggressive defense and stopping teams earlier that try and dribble on us," Robertson said. "We are trying to be patient, but tackle hard."\n She also believes that Penn State may underestimate the ability of IU.\n "We have an advantage because they beat us twice last year, and they won't look at us as a serious threat," Robertson said. "We can only look to play our best game and be a complete team when we play them; if we can limit them in shots and penalty corners it is completely possible that we could be successful in that game."\nIn Robertson's mind, success against the Buckeyes or Nittany Lions would give the Hoosiers just what they have been looking for throughout Big Ten play.\n"We would like to win one Big Ten game this year, and we have yet to achieve that goal."