IU field hockey team loses heartbreaker to No. 6 Iowa

The IU field hockey team traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, this weekend with thoughts of upsetting the No. 6 Hawkeyes. After 70 minutes couldn’t determine a winner, the Hoosiers upset bid was spoiled in a 2-1 overtime loss. \nIU played Iowa tough before the Hawkeyes scored a goal in the first overtime period. \n“This was probably the toughest loss of the whole season,” IU coach Amy Robertson said. “It was one of those games that could have gone either way. We fought really hard and knew we were capable of winning the whole time.” \nIowa struck first, scoring a first-half goal off of a penalty corner. The Hawkeyes put the pressure on the IU defense all game long, notching 21 shots and earning 12 penalty corners. \n“I think we did a good job of defending their corners,” senior goalkeeper Haley Exner said. “That was something we had been working on in practice, and I think we didn’t let them execute how they wanted to.”\nAlthough the Hoosiers defended the corners well, Robertson was concerned with the amount given up to the Hawkeyes. \n“We executed well on our corner defense, but we have to work on giving up less corners,” she said. \nTrailing 1-0 at halftime, IU bounced back with a second-half goal of its own. Freshman forward Katie Griswold scored on a reverse chip, leveling the score at 1-1. \nThe game stayed tied until the overtime period, when Iowa scored the game-winning goal. \n“We played really hard for 70 minutes, and I think we were a little tired in the overtime period,” sophomore midfielder Meg O’Connell said. “The overtime is played seven-on-seven, so it was a lot of running and kind of a different style of game. We didn’t get much of an attack going and they scored a breakaway.”\nIU struggled to create scoring chances against a strong Iowa defense, recording only seven shots in the game. \n“I thought we did a pretty good job with the ball from the 50 to the goal, but we just didn’t generate enough shot opportunities,” Robertson said. “We didn’t get enough penetration inside the circle to create decent shots.”\nAlthough the Hoosiers were outshot 21-7, they held their own over the course of \nthe game.\n“I thought it was a pretty even game,” O’Connell said. “We were aggressive and were pretty organized on defense. We were able to create some good opportunities, but we just didn’t finish.”\nExner was busy in goal all game long and recorded an impressive nine saves. Despite her good performance, she was still disappointed in the result. \n“It was a little bittersweet because I had some good saves and I thought I did everything I could out there,” she said. “To lose like that in overtime was pretty heartbreaking.”