Field hockey opens conference play at Penn State

The 2010 Big Ten season offers the Hoosiers an opportunity to do something the program has not yet done: win a conference championship.

IU fell a goal short in 2009 when the Hoosiers lost 3-2 to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament on the Spartans’ home field.

Junior forward Corey Brautigam said Friday’s conference opener at Penn State is just like any other on the schedule.

“It’s just another game. We take one game at a time in order to get where we want to be at the end of the year,” Brautigam said. “This is always our goal — a Big Ten championship. We are the only Big Ten school who has never won.”

IU coach Amy Robertson offered a different perspective on beginning the conference portion of the Hoosiers’ schedule, saying the team’s 4-2 record is a prologue to the next chapter in IU’s season.

“Now that we enter the Big Ten, the possibilities are out there,” Robertson said. “What sort of team are we going to be now in the Big Ten conference? It’s like a whole new season. What we’ve done before has been preparation for this.”

When the Hoosiers face off with the Nittany Lions in State College, Pa., IU will face a team with momentum. Penn State is on a four-game winning streak, outscoring those opponents 13-2.

Robertson dismissed the significance of such statistics.

“I don’t even look at that they won,” Robertson said. “I’m looking at personnel and how we match up against that.”

Brautigam agreed Penn State’s success has a small role in how the Hoosiers prepare.
“We’ve tried to focus on our play and fix our mistakes instead of focusing on the other team,” she said. “We know that Penn State is a good team. We know some of their tendencies.”