Hoosiers upset No. 6 Michigan State

The IU women's field hockey team finally removed what junior forward Lydia Schrott described as "a huge thorn in our side" Saturday. \nThe No. 11 Hoosiers upset No. 6 Michigan State in a double overtime thriller, 3-2. The victory marks the first time the Hoosiers have defeated the Spartans in eight attempts, and the first time the Hoosiers have opened Big Ten Conference play with a win. \n"Without a doubt, this is the biggest win in our program's history," IU head coach Amy Robertson said. "This is a turning point for us. We won this game by looking for opportunities, penetrating and defending. This was a milestone win."\nThe Hoosiers struck first with a goal by senior midfielder Kayla Bashore off a penalty shot in the 23rd minute to take a 1-0 lead, which they maintained going into the second half. The Spartans tied the match in the 39th minute, but Schrott put the Hoosiers on top 2-1 in the 52nd minute following a penalty corner. But the second Hoosier lead of the game was short lived, as Michigan State tied the match at 2-2 two minutes after Schrott's goal. As regulation ended 16 minutes later, the Hoosiers and Spartans remained deadlocked at 2-2. \nAfter playing a 15-minute sudden death overtime period, the Hoosiers and Spartans were still tied. Halfway through the second overtime period, IU sophomore forward Kate O'Connell finally broke through and netted the biggest goal of her Hoosier career, securing the 3-2 double overtime upset victory. \n"Scoring that goal was an awesome feeling," O'Connell said. "When I was going through it, I was trying to be so composed, I was trying to do everything really slowly and put the ball in the net with one touch. I felt wide open and I don't know if there was someone on me, but I wanted the ball and I got it."\nDespite playing two overtime periods, Robertson said her team was able to fight the fatigue factor because of the depth of the Hoosier roster.\n"We have such great depth on our team, we were able to put people in during those overtime periods and not miss a beat," Robertson said. \nIn addition to being winless against the Spartans until Saturday, the Hoosiers have been eliminated from the Big Ten tournament by the Spartans the last three seasons -- something that made the victory that much sweeter, Schrott said. \n"It was such a huge win, and we finally removed a huge thorn from our side," she said. "We played pure IU hockey out there today."\nSunday, the Hoosiers wrapped up their five game home stand with another victory, defeating the Lindenwood Lions 6-0. IU won all five games of their longest home stand of the year. \nBashore recorded her second hat trick of the season, with all three goals coming in the first half. Junior defensive back Morgan Miller also added a goal in the first half. Freshman forward Katie Kiper scored her first career goal in the second half, and senior forward Mallory Reabold capped off the Hoosier scoring with her fourth goal of the year. Bashore's hat trick gave her a team-leading eight goals. \n"It was important for us to have a good game today after the Michigan State victory, and I was able to connect on some shots and help us get another win," Bashore said.\nThe Hoosiers' record now stands at 8-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten.