Ohio State uses penalty corner factor to down Hoosiers

A seven-to-one advantage in penalty corners earned by Ohio State doomed the IU field hockey team Saturday. The No. 7 Buckeyes earned three of their four goals on penalty corners en route to a 4-1 victory.

Senior goalkeeper Alex Mann understood the significance of the penalty corner discrepancy.

“That’s a huge impact because Ohio State’s penalty corners are extremely dangerous,” Mann said. “We’ve been working on them all week in practice. But they execute really well. To give them any corners is unfortunate.”

Junior midfielder Jacyln Milici agreed.

“Giving them seven penalty corners wasn’t good,” Milici said. “Our corner defense has been exceptional the past weekend. We had to have faith in our teammates. Unfortunately, they were able to capitalize on a couple of those.”

The Buckeyes scored first in the seventh minute of the game. Ohio State added two more goals on penalty corners in the first half to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.

Seven minutes into the second half, Milici scored the Hoosiers’ lone goal and her first goal of the season.

After the score, IU coach Amy Robertson said the Hoosiers did not take advantage of the shift in momentum.

“I think we needed to get another goal pretty quickly, and that would’ve put more pressure and panic on our opponent,” she said.

After Milici’s goal, Mann believed IU’s play improved.

“We were putting together passes a lot better,” Mann said. “We were working really well. Unfortunately, that didn’t end up on the scoreboard.”

Robertson gave Ohio State great praise.

“This is a tough loss for us,” Robertson said. “We did not expect this. Ohio State played brilliantly today. Their forwards are so skilled. The shots they took, I’ve never seen them play like that on tape.

“We just played the best team in the Big Ten. If they play like that, that’s the best team in the Big Ten.”