Hoosiers enjoy best season ever

This year, the IU field hockey team enjoyed its best season in the six-year history of the program.\nUnder the guidance of coach Amy Robertson, the Hoosiers set a number of team records, including most wins in a season, highest national ranking, and most importantly, and a trip to the Elite Eight in the first NCAA tournament appearance in school history. \n"It was a ground-breaking season for IU field hockey," Robertson said. "The biggest highlight of the whole year was going to the NCAAs for the first time and making it to the second round."\nThe season-ending NCAA tournament in Winston Salem, N.C., pitted IU against No. 5 University of North Carolina, a national powerhouse, in the first round. Led by a hat trick from All-Big Ten First Team selection Lydia Schrott, the Hoosiers upset the Tar Heels 3-2 to advance to the second round. In the second round, IU fell to three-time defending national champion Wake Forest University. The loss ended IU's season just one win shy of a trip to the Final Four in Louisville, Ky., but the Hoosiers still finished the season with a 17-5 record, the best in the program's history. \nWhile the first-round NCAA victory was the pinnacle of the season, the Hoosiers enjoyed many other highlights along the way. The list of accomplishments, accolades and records earned by the team include four regular season Big Ten victories (including first time wins against Michigan State, Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State), a second-place finish in the conference regular season, a second-place finish in the Big Ten tournament and a national ranking of No. 7. \n"It was great to advance in the tournament in our first time in the NCAAs and finish among the top eight teams in the entire country," sophomore goalkeeper Haley Exner said. "Our play this year proved that we're one of the top programs in the nation."\nThe list of team records set by the Hoosiers was also lengthy. Included among them is a record 10-game winning streak from Sept. 9 to Oct. 22 and a seven-game home winning streak. Statistically, the 2005 Hoosiers shattered nearly every record in the books. Goals, shots, assists, goals per game and shutout records were all re-written after the 2005 campaign.\nThe records didn't stop at the team level, as several Hoosier players were recognized for individual accomplishments throughout the course of the season. Foremost among these honors was senior Kayla Bashore's selection as the Big Ten Player of the Year.\n"The award is a reflection of our team," Bashore said. "It shows how great we played this year and the type of season we had."\nAdditionally, Bashore was joined by Exner, junior back Morgan Miller and Schrott as First Team All-Big Ten selections. \n"Having four players on the first team was a testament to the high quality of field hockey this program has achieved," Robertson said. "We probably could have had three or four other players recognized as well."\nBashore and senior Mallory Reabold were also selected to participate in the North/South Senior All-Star game. Reabold also won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.\nPerhaps the most prominent honor bestowed upon a Hoosier this season came when Bashore was named as member of the U.S. National Field Hockey Team, a precursor to Olympic competition. \nIn terms of individual records, Exner and Schrott became IU's all-time leaders in wins and goals scored in a season, respectively; both with 17. Exner also became the program's all-time leader in wins and Schrott the all-time leader in goals scored.\nFor seniors Morgan Albini, Nikki Orciuch, Bashore, Reabold, Lesley Wiler and Ryan Woolsey, the 2005 season marked the end of six noteworthy college careers. Albini, Orciuch and Wiler set an IU record with 79 career games played. \n"We had extremely high expectations for this season, but we knew we were capable of achieving them," Wiler said. "We had so many amazing accomplishments this year -- it was one of the best experiences of my life." \nFor Robertson, who has been IU's coach since the inaugural season of 2000 in which they finished 1-12, the 2005 season was particularly remarkable.\n"It was an incredible journey from start to finish," Robertson said. "It was a season that I'll never forget"