IU looking forward to San Diego Invitational

With two weeks off since last playing at the Michigan Invitational, IU coach Barry King has the girls ready for a highly competitive weekend in San Diego. Having already faced three top 20 teams in Ann Arbor, Mich., to start the season, King believes his team is well-prepared for the UCSD Invitational.\n"Playing in a couple of comeback wins and a tough loss against Michigan has hardened us," said King. "We are now better prepared for the level of play awaiting us in San Diego."\nThe Hoosiers were impressive on the defensive end in Michigan, holding the three top 20 teams they faced to only 15 goals in three games. IU defenders held their own, averaging 15 steals in the three matches. \nFreshman Kristin Zernicke led the team with 12 on the weekend, followed by senior Kristy Streefkerk and junior Jessica Goldner, with seven take-aways apiece. \n"We need to go into the San Diego Invite with the same type of intensity we had in Michigan," said Goldner. "As long as we work as a team on both ends of the pool, we should fare well against our competition."\nHowever, offensively, the team struggled, according to King. IU has netted 15 goals in their two wins, whereas in their loss to Michigan the Hoosiers were only able to score two goals. The focus in practice was geared more on the offensive side of the ball rather than the defensive, as King thinks defensively his team is well ahead of the offense.\n"We need to score some more goals in order to win some matches this weekend," said King. "We focused more on the offensive end in practice and making sure we get the ball to the right places at the right times."\nNo. 10 IU is very confident going into this weekend. Having matched up against a high level of competition two weeks ago, the Hoosier squad is ready to take on their competition. \nJunior Krista Peterson believes the team has more of a swagger going into this weekend. \n"We went into the Michigan Invitational slightly intimidated by our opponents," said Peterson. "I think we are more confident in ourselves now that we have finally played a few games. But, in order to do well in San Diego, we cannot be intimidated by all of the ranked teams we will have a chance to face."\nIU joins Hartwick as the only eastern schools at the Invite in a field of predominantly California teams. The 12-team pool in San Diego will include 11 out of 12 ranked teams, the only unranked squad being Cal-State Bakersfield. Leading the way is No. 4 Long Beach State along with Loyola Marymount and San Diego, both tied at fifth. \nThe Hoosiers will begin play Saturday morning against No. 15 UC-Irvine and determine their fate in the invite from there. In the second round of matches on Saturday, IU will either face Cal State-Bakersfield or Long Beach State. On Sunday, IU will play the remaining two games of the invite, regardless of the outcomes from Saturday.\n-- Contact staff writer Matt Ostrega at mostrega@indiana.edu.