No. 15 Hoosiers sweep doubleheader in Ohio, extend win streak

After making the short trek to Ohio this weekend, the No. 15 Hoosiers extended their winning streak to five games.\nThe IU field hockey team defeated Ohio University Friday and Radford University Saturday, improving its overall record to 5-1.\n"It's been a tough week, and it's absolutely great to come away with four wins in a week," IU coach Amy Robertson said. "We might not have played our best hockey, but we did some good things and finished well."\nThe Hoosiers competed in a defensive battle against Ohio University and won 1-0. With only seven shot attempts in the game, IU scored its lone goal in the 29th minute via the stick of All-American senior forward Lydia Schrott.\nThe Hoosiers lack of offense was compensated by their lockdown defense, led by junior goalkeeper Haley Exner. Exner had her second shutout of the season and registered all five of her saves in the second half.\nIf defense was the theme of Friday's game versus the Bobcats, Saturday's game versus the Highlanders was an offensive slugfest.\nThe two teams exchanged goals back and forth the entire game, but the Hoosiers managed to overpower Radford 5-3.\nDisplaying their team's depth, the Hoosiers had five goals from five different players. Junior forward Kate O'Connell scored the team's first goal in the fifth minute of play. After a Highlander goal, senior back Morgan Miller scored in the ninth minute of the game off an assist from O'Connell and senior back Meredith Brown.\nIn the second half, the Hoosiers netted three more goals to put the Highlanders away. Scoring for the Hoosiers were freshman forward Haley Funk (44th minute), senior midfielder Rachel Telian (61st minute) and sophomore forward Katie Kiper (67th minute).\n"We don't have any one person that's a superstar," Robertson said. "We have a couple of people that always play at a high level. You can't just focus on one person."\nAfter struggling in the game versus the Bobcats to register shot attempts, the Hoosiers were more aggressive Saturday, outshooting the Highlanders 14-8.\nThe Hoosiers have now won five consecutive games, all on the road. After playing back-to-back games this weekend, the Hoosiers will get a chance to rest and practice before their next game.\n"We haven't had a chance to practice anything new," Robertson said. "We've just been preparing for new opponents. I'm hoping to get organized and take our game to the next level."\n*A new face*\nA new face will join the Hoosiers in practice to help them improve their play. Last Thursday, Robertson announced that Pietie Coetzee was hired as an assistant coach. Coetzee is a nine-time member of the South African National Team and has scored 198 goals in 196 international games. Coetzee will work \nprimarily with the IU forwards, who will be able to benefit from her wisdom, Robertson said.\n"She'll be working with the forwards, telling them some of the shortcuts, technically and tactically," Robertson said. "I have a lot I can learn from Pietie, too. It's not just the players."\nCoetzee had been the head coach for the University of Johannesburg since January 2005. Along with being a two-time Olympian, Coetzee has been coaching field hockey at different levels for four years.\n IU will play its first home game against Central Michigan at 3 p.m. Friday in Mellencamp Pavilion.\n"It's the perfect time to be home," Robertson said. "It will be nice to rest and not have to get on a bus and travel"