Team enters 4th season with 10 returning starters

The IU women's field hockey team comes into its fourth season with extremely high hopes. Last year the team showed great improvement. It was even able to upset highly ranked Ohio State and fought extremely hard in a double overtime loss to 9th-ranked Louisville. With ten starters from last year's team returning, Coach Amy Robertson is very excited about her team's chances this year. \n"In our fourth season we will continue to make significant strides and build on the previous three years," Robertson said. "This has been a very exciting process because we keep moving forward and the improvement in our play and attitude has visibly jumped each season. For the first time, we have our entire core returning. Ten starters are back from last year, plus a very talented group of incoming freshmen."\nTwo of last year's returning starters are senior Erica Nilsson and junior co-captain Kayla Bashore. Last year Nilsson and Bashore were the top two point leaders on the team. Also returning is 5th-year senior goalie Molly Pulkrabek. Last year she led the entire Big Ten conference with 147 saves and had an outstanding save percentage, saving about four out of every five shots. \nWith two players leaving, Robertson did an excellent job of bringing in five outstanding freshman recruits, one of which has already started her first game. \nLydia Schrott, a four-year varsity letter winner is described by Robertson as, "a very versatile player who could see action for us in any position. She has athletic gifts plus the will to do anything to improve and to win games. She loves a challenge and is not afraid to put in the work to see how far she can go."\nThe Hoosiers also added lots of depth in their midfield with Jodi Murphy and Rachel Telian. Helping out the defensive side of the field will be April Levins and Morgan Miller. \n"We have grown very close as a team in the spring and have a focus and determination that is unrivaled from our past teams," Robertson said. "This group is capable of competing with any team in the country, and they will be exciting to watch."\nThe Hoosiers will have the chance to prove they can compete, as the team has one of the most difficult schedules in the nation -- a schedule that includes the defending national champions and the national runner-up.\nRobertson knows about the daunting task ahead with a schedule like this, however she believes her team is up to the challenge.\n"We will have our work cut out for us as we have put together a 2003 schedule that will challenge us every step of the way," Robertson said. "In addition to playing an extremely tough Big Ten schedule, we have added a game against defending national champion Wake Forest and four other top teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season. I believe for the first time we are truly ready for the level of competition we are going to face. We have come a long way since the beginning, and we are now capable of playing with any team in the country."\nContact staff writer Andrew Rosen at ajrosen@indiana.edu.