Hoosiers gear up for Buckeyes

After a statement win against Northwestern, the Hoosiers continue to try to improve.

“We’ve been making a lot of offensive improvements,” junior forward Brooke Borneman said. “On our ball handling, we’ve been looking a lot at video and changing our structure to match Ohio State and be the best we can.”

The IU field hockey team beat formerly No. 15 Northwestern 4-1 last Friday to give them three straight wins and a 7-2 record.

IU Coach Amy Robertson has been telling the team all season to not dwell on previous victories and instead to focus on their next match.

“That’s over and done,” Robertson said, “We celebrated that. We go right back to the process with what things are going to be important to feel confident going into the game against Ohio State.”

Robertson said she has made many adjustments to find a way to beat No. 20 Ohio State, the team’s second straight ranked Big Ten opponent.

“We’ve continued working on our individual defense and our tackle to stop play outside of the circle,” Robertson added. “Offsetting our leads, getting in the attacking circle and being really tenacious to find different ways to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Recent starter Maggie Olson leads the Big Ten in both goals against average and save percentage. She is also the current Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

“They just have both been doing a great job,” Borneman said. “They’re really good at communicating from the back, which spreads up the whole field and helps us all just gain confidence and know what we’re doing.”

The Hoosiers will face the Buckeyes at 3 p.m. Friday in Columbus, Ohio,. With the confidence and communication of the goalies, Robertson said the whole team has been able to rely on each other and improve.

“The backs feel very confident they don’t do have to something crazy to stop the ball because they have someone right behind them who’s going to do that job for them,” Robertson said.