Senior Day overshadowed by loss to Wolverines

Sunday's game began and ended with tears for IU.\nPlayers, coaches and family members appeared misty-eyed before the Hoosiers' highly anticipated showdown versus the No. 20 Michigan Wolverines. The No. 11 Hoosiers held a Senior Day ceremony on the Mellencamp Pavilion turf minutes before the game to honor their senior class.\nAn hour and a half later on the same turf, the Hoosiers were even more emotional after losing to the Wolverines 1-0. The game marked the Hoosiers' (13-3, Big Ten 3-1) last home game of the season and, with construction progressing on their new outdoor field, their last game ever in Mellencamp Pavilion.\n"We've been playing here for four years, and it's hard because we know we'll never play here again," senior back Morgan Miller said. "It's tough to lose because it is our last game here."\nThe lone goal of the game came from Michigan's Kristen Tiner in the 26th minute off a penalty corner. In the second half, junior forward Kate O'Connell buried a ball into the back of the goal in what the Hoosiers thought was the tying goal.\nAs the Hoosiers celebrated, referee Rodney Fisher waived the goal off and instead gave the Hoosiers the consolation prize of a penalty corner, on which the Hoosiers failed to convert.\n"He called it a corner right when the ball was going in. You can't do anything about it," O'Connell said.\nThe two teams played a tight game, with only one important detail distancing the two teams.\n"They had one really good shot," Miller said. "Other than that the game was pretty even and could have gone either way."\nMiller played Sunday despite spraining her ankle during practice earlier this week. She sat out Saturday's 2-1 overtime victory against Northeastern University but played against Michigan with a protective cast on.\nAfter Northeastern scored with under five seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 1-1, it looked as if the Hoosiers had let the game slip out of their grasp.\nIn the third minute of overtime, sophomore back Dani Castro fired a ball into the box, and O'Connell, with her back to the goal, tapped the ball in to give the Hoosiers a victory.\n"That was pure determination," IU coach Amy Robertson said. "When you feel it, you just have to take it. (Dani) hit the ball towards the opposite post, and Kate came in and tipped it into the goal. It was beautiful."\nSunday's loss was particularly hard for the Hoosiers. When the team discussed the outcome of the loss after the game, IU was able to take some positives from the defeat.\n"I'd rather lose with our team than be on any other Big Ten team," All-American senior forward Lydia Schrott said. "They're like family. Just to know you have 19 other girls on the team that are like sisters ... I know we can come together and get through a loss like this."\nSunday afternoon came as the conclusion of what has been a difficult week for the Hoosiers.\n"We've had it pretty smooth all year, but this week we had some injuries and some changes in staff. I think you can't help but be emotional," Robertson said.\nThe staffing change Robertson referred to is the loss of assistant coach Pietie Coetzee. Coetzee was hired Sept. 7, but left the team earlier in the week to return to her native country South Africa.\nRobertson said her team's loss in the last home game does not mark the end of the year.\n"The season is nowhere near over," Robertson said. "If we play Michigan again in the Big Ten Tournament we'll be on the other end of this result. Our team is going to come together and be even closer after this loss."\nDuring her post-game speech Robertson told her team to use this loss in a productive way.\n"She told us to bottle up all the emotions you have now from this game and use them when we play our next game versus Michigan State," Miller said.