Field hockey loses games against two ranked opponents

The IU women’s field hockey team failed in both its games this weekend to score a single goal.

The Hoosiers lost to No. 10 Duke 4-0 Fridayin Durham, N.C. Freshman Morgan Dye led the offensive attack with two shots on goal.

Despite 12 scoring opportunities — five on goal — the Hoosiers couldn’t get on the board.

IU Coach Amy Robertson lauded Duke goalkeeper Lauren Blazing, but also said there are things the Hoosiers offense could have done differently to change the outcome.

“We got opportunities in our circle, but we didn’t get enough numbers going into the attack,” Robertson said. “We took shots, but we were often outnumbered defensively.”

Although the score of the game was lopsided, Robertson said she was impressed with some of the things the team was doing offensively in the first half.

“In the first half, we had more shots,” Robertson said. “We moved the ball well, and we played at a pace that I have never seen our team play at before.”

After losting to Duke Friday, the Hoosiers played No. 17 Drexel, falling to the Dragons 2-0.

The Hoosiers attempted 12 shots, but were unable to score for the second consecutive game.

After the completion of both games, Robertson said there were a number of things she discovered will help the team moving forward.

“What we need to work on is the connection with our midfield,” she said. “We can work more players into the attack. We also need to be working on building flow and attacking better spaces.

“At times it looked like we tried to force some things, and it wore us out because we didn’t maintain possession.”

Robertson also said both opponents from the weekend are extremely talented teams, which is why they were on the schedule for the beginning of the season.

“We wanted to play the best competition that we could opening weekend so we didn’t have to wait later in the season to find out more about ourselves,” Robertson said. “We wanted to find out as much as we could right away so we didn’t have a false sense of confidence.”

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Maggie Olson accounted for seven saves in each game during the weekend, tying her career high. The coaching staff named Olson player of the game.

“She was voted player of the game because she came up big against Drexel,” Robertson said. “She played really solid.”

Follow reporter Dan Matney on Twitter @dan_matney.