Victory over No. 20 Ohio State is team's first ever in Big Ten

The fortunes of the IU field hockey squad took a turn for the better Saturday afternoon as the Hoosiers ended their four-game losing skid with a winning performance against No. 20 Ohio State. The victory was IU's first ever against a Big Ten opponent. \nOn the heels of a gutsy double-OT defeat at the hands of No. 9 Louisville, IU was hungry for a win, and it showed. The Hoosiers were on the attack all day. They took the lead early and never lost it in their 3-2 win. \nSenior midfielder Erica Nilsson grabbed a pass from sophomore forward Ryan Woosley, and chucked it into the cage just 3:27 into the contest to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead.\nNilsson said she was excited to ignite the team so early in the game and thought her goal helped fuel the Hoosiers to victory. \n"There was a hole in the defense, and I ran to it," Nilsson said. "It was just a great connection and a great pass by Ryan."\nIU didn't let up after that. Just thirteen minutes later, freshman Mallory Reabold put the ball past Buckeye goalie, freshman Lara Koole for her second goal of the week. The assist went to sophomore Kayla Bashore.\nWhile the offense broke out of its prolonged slump, the defense continued its solid play. Senior goalie Molly Pulkrabek had four saves, and during the first half she broke her own IU record for most saves in a season with 86. \nPulkrabek said she was happy, but humbled, to break the record.\n"I realize it's something great for me to achieve," Pulkrabek said. "Obviously, I want to break records every year because it means that I'm getting better and better."\nThe Hoosiers, leading 2-0 at the break, came out firing in the second half. \nFreshman Nikki Orciuch best exemplified IU's will to win when she rebounded her own shot off of OSU's Koole and put it past her to increase IU's lead to 3-0.\n"I deserved that goal," Orciuch said. "I shot it once, and it came back to me. I really had to work hard for it."\nOSU scored at the 38:24 mark off of a penalty corner and scored again with 12 minutes to play on a goal by junior Mariana Solorzano. \nIU's defense held on to give the Hoosiers their biggest win since the re-inception of the program in 2000. \nCoach Amy Robertson said she couldn't be more proud of her squad.\n"We started out on a mission, and I think the first two goals were scored on pure emotion," Robertson said. "We came under fire in the end, but we maintained our poise. I give my team an A today."\nRobertson has been predicting the team's breakout for weeks and said it was only a matter of time.\n"For the last four games we've built on what we did in the previous game. We had no let down, no lull," Robertson said. "We've had great team unity despite the outcomes, and now we got the outcome we've been playing for"