Hoosiers look to pull upset at Big Ten Tourney

Many teams might be discouraged going into a conference tournament after a winless conference regular season. But after a year of improvement, field hockey coach Amy Robertson and her remain positive going into the Big Ten Tournament this weekend in Evanston, Ill. The Hoosiers are the No. 7 seed.\nIU's most notable improvements in its second year have come in the net with junior Molly Pulkrabek and freshman Katie Kanara, keeping the Hoosiers close in nearly all their matches. Kanara broke the IU record for saves in a season, recording her 80th save in an 8-1 loss to Iowa two weeks ago. Pulkrabek is right on Kanara's heels, as she posted her 78th save of the year last weekend against Penn State.\nFor the Hoosiers to succeed in Evanston, Robertson knows they will need stellar performances from Pulkrabek and Kanara.\nGoing into the Big Ten Tournament the Hoosiers have allowed 54 goals in 16 games, compared to 81 goals in 13 games during their 2000 campaign. Although IU's keepers have faced 263 more shots than the Hoosiers have taken, the team goals against average is down more than three points from the 2000 season.\nPulkrabek said she tries to concentrate on the game and not get down when IU gives up a goal.\n"I probably should feel pressure, but I just try to focus on the game and put all the pressure aside because I don't want it to eat at me," she said.\But the IU goalies are sure to face a fair amount of shots in their first round match-up against No. 2 Ohio State at 10 a.m. today. Last Friday the Buckeyes defeated the Hoosiers 3-0 to clinch a share of the regular season Big Ten Championship. But with Michigan State's 2-1 win against Iowa, the Spartans were awarded the No. 1 seed and a first round bye.\nComing into the weekend the Hoosiers are 1-15 overall and 0-6 in the conference, while the Buckeyes are 12-4 overall and 5-1 in Big Ten play. The winner of the IU and OSU game will play Saturday against the winner of No. 3 Michigan and No. 6 Northwestern.\nSenior co-captain Akila Jones is hoping to keep her career going with a Hoosier win today.\n"We always need to take it to them and play to the level of the other team," she said. "All status aside and all records aside, we have to take it to them and play your hardest, it comes down to who has the most heart."\nFellow senior co-captain Brooke Magers said she is confident IU can pull an upset of the Buckeyes.\n"Big Tens are like a whole new season, everyone goes in with a 0-0 record and we are looking to do some upsetting," Magers said. "Given our season and how we have held some very good teams, I think we can do it"