No. 11 Hoosiers look to continue 11-game win streak against Cards

When you beat No. 5 Ohio State and win 11 straight games, people start to notice.\n"Not a lot of people know about field hockey because Indiana (high schools don't) have it," senior back Meredith Brown said. "But it's cool to walk around campus and be recognized and have people congratulate you about the game."\nBrown and the No. 11 Hoosiers (11-1, 3-0 Big Ten) defeated the previously unbeaten Buckeyes 2-1 last Sunday and look to continue their recent dominance at 7 p.m. Friday against the University of Louisville at Trager Stadium. The Hoosiers will take on the No. 13 Cardinals in what is IU's only night game all season, which adds an extra element of excitement to an already important game, IU coach Amy Robertson said.\n"I've always found in my own career, when you play at night under the lights, you have so much energy," Robertson said.\nThe game marks the second trip the Hoosiers have made to Louisville (6-4) this season. On Aug. 22, in IU's final preseason scrimmage, the Hoosiers fell to the Cardinals 3-2.\nBut the Hoosiers aren't worried about past results. Right now they're focused on battling minor injuries and sickness that have nagged them during a tough week of practice.\n"A lot of us are beat up," junior goalie Haley Exner said. "Midseason is always the time when you have people getting sick and injured since we've been playing almost every day for two months. It starts to take a toll, but we keep going."\nBrown described practice this week as being "really tough and physically demanding." But don't expect that to change as long as the Hoosiers continue to win, Robertson said.\n"You can't get complacent," Robertson said. "Losing will give you extra motivation to work hard. But because we've had this great start to the season, we want to continue have more than that and work hard.\n"No matter who we are playing, whether it's one of the top teams in the country or someone small, we want to continue to improve ourselves," she said.\nThe Hoosiers' improvement last weekend was rewarded this week. After totaling 18 saves in two games last weekend and allowing only two goals, Exner was named Womensfieldhockey.com's Division I Player of the Week.\n"It's just a huge honor," Exner said. "I had the feeling I hadn't played my best yet, but this past weekend I really felt like I played the game I'm capable of playing. I'm excited for my team, my defense and everyone. This just shows how great we've been playing."\nBut those aren't the only awards the Hoosiers received; they also swept the Big Ten awards. Exner received Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, and junior forward Kate O'Connell won the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week award after scoring three goals in her last two games.\n"Until this past weekend, it was the first time Haley had really felt like she had played her 'A' game," Robertson said. "There was no way teams were going to score on her. She was unstoppable."\nThe Hoosiers' game Friday isn't their only game of the weekend. On Sunday, the Hoosiers return to Mellencamp Pavilion, where they will take on the Lindenwood Lions (1-3). The Lions have struggled of late, being outscored 1-13 in their last three games.\nBut for now, the Hoosiers' focus is Friday's game against the Cardinals. After losing in the preseason to them, IU will be out to avenge their August loss.\n"When we lost to them in preseason, I remember thinking after the game that I wasn't worried," Brown said. "I knew we would come back just as strong and they would give us competition"