Field hockey looks for first win of season

Coming off of a difficult set of games in Raleigh, N.C., the IU women’s field hockey team heads into the weekend to play against St. Louis Friday and Radford Sunday in Bloomington.

IU Coach Amy Robertson was impressed with the play of the freshmen in the first set of games and also admired the effort put forth by junior forward Audra Heilman.

“You always notice Audra because she works so hard,” she said. “She’s a whole level above anyone out there.”

Last weekend, redshirt junior goalkeeper Maggie Olson tied her career high in saves twice with seven. Maggie said her confidence level with this season’s team is higher than it was last year. She said Assistant Coach Phil Edwards’ work with goalkeepers was productive last spring.

Olson also said the experience of this year’s defense is also something that has helped her become more confident.

Robertson praised Olson for her performance against Duke and Drexel, but she also said she wants to limit the opportunities that Olson has to make saves.

“We would like her to see less action,” Robertson said. “We need to do a better job of limiting the shots against her, but given the challenge, she really stepped up for our team.”

The Hoosiers will face a St. Louis team that dropped its first two contests to Robert Morris by a score of 0-3 and Central Michigan 6-1. IU will be facing another difficult goalkeeper Saturday against junior Megan Depew-Brady, who accounted for seven saves against Robert Morris and 11 saves against the Chippewas.

IU’s Sunday opponent, the Radford Highlanders, are also starting their season with a 0-2 record. The Highlanders lost their first game to William & Mary by a score of 0-5 and then followed with a loss to defending MAC Conference champion Miami (Ohio) University 1-6.

Playing well defensively and limiting scoring opportunities are something that Olson feels will be important this weekend, she said.

“Keeping our body positioning low, really good communication on the field and just general awareness on the field will be factors,” Olson said. “I think they will be two really competitive games, and our defense has to hold it down. We are really focusing on the basics.”

On the offensive side, the team needs to work together to create scoring opportunities, Robertson said.

“We have to be able to find passes sooner and move the ball better,” Robertson said. “We really need to work as a unit. We sometimes play too much as individuals. There is space and options for the ball that we aren’t recognizing, so we need to be more proactive when we have the ball.”

Robertson said the team has put together a productive week of practice and is ready for the challenge ahead.

“We are ready and hungry,” Robertson said. “We are going to make better shots and find the goal more.”