Field hockey readies for senior day, season finale

The season finale is upon the IU field hockey team, as the Hoosiers are hosts to Michigan on Saturday. The home finale means senior day with seniors playing their final regular season game of their careers.

“I’m excited about the fact that it’s my last game,” senior forward Lena Grote said. “Obviously, it’s a sad thing that it’s my last home game. The cool thing is we’ve come together as a team. I know the whole team is working every day to finish out the season.”

IU has an opportunity over the weekend to build some momentum as they prepare for the Big Ten Tournament. Still, the Hoosiers’ focus is solely on what can be gained from the contest against the Wolverines. Preparation has been excellent, according to freshman back Danielle McNally.

“Practice today was one of the best practices we’ve had,” she said. “We’ve had a couple meetings and talked about our mentality and how we all need to be on the same page. Everyone is ready to go out there and win for the seniors and win for us.”

Given the day’s occasion, IU coach Amy Robertson said incentive won’t be lacking.

“Everyone wants to make sure that we send the seniors out in style and that we end on a really good note,” Robertson said. “It motivates the team to bring a little extra because they’re not just playing to win, they’re playing also for the seniors and sort of honoring their whole career here.”

And McNally is not lacking confidence.

“Winning on Saturday would give us momentum going into the tournament. If we play like we know we can, we’ll definitely win and that momentum will carry over.”