Indiana Beats Ball State, 4-2

Friday, September 18

Bloomington, Ind.

4:00 PM

Indiana University

(3-4)

Ball State

(1-7)

BSU

Indiana

9/18/2015 7:05:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

The Hoosiers earned 13 penalty corners on their way to their third season win

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana field hockey squad earned their first home win of the season on Friday afternoon with a 4-2 win over Ball State. The Cardinals were first on the board, but the Hoosiers rallied with four unanswered scores, largely due to the 13 penalty corners they won in the contest.

"We've been emphasizing that we have to get something good when we get in the circle," Indiana head coach Amanda Janney said regarding the high volume of penalty corners. "We've had trouble scoring in the last couple of games, so to see us get so many attacking opportunities today was great for us."

Indiana didn't struggle with scoring in Friday's game. The Cardinals broke the score line in the 13^th minute of play on a penalty corner. Indiana responded by upping the pressure on the attack, looking for chances, half-chances, and restarts on penalty corners.

The Hoosiers' valiant effort paid off in the 29^th minute. Kate Barber struck an opportune penalty corner from the top of the circle, which darted into the back of the goal. Rachel Stauffer and Abby Urbanek were credited for assists.

"We've been working on it a lot," Barber said, reacting to her second penalty corner score this season. "When we get inside the 25 or even in the circle, it's important to get a positive outcome, whether it's a goal or a corner. I think we accomplished that today."

Indiana's chances kept coming after the halftime break. Indiana was able to break the tie three minutes into the second half, a rebound score from Maddie Latino by way of an assist from Barber. After a thrilling preseason campaign from Latino, the sophomore striker netted her second score of the regular season.

Indiana had an aggressive approach against Ball State. The Hoosiers wanted the win to build momentum heading into Big Ten play, but they also saw the importance of beating Indiana's other field hockey team.

"We wanted to prove who is the best team in Indiana," Janney said. "This game meant a lot being against the closest college to us, and the rivalry there. We were intent on playing our strongest at home today."

The Hoosiers increased their lead to 3-1 from yet another penalty corner. Taylor Pearson took aim after the insertion by Abby Urbanek, and then returned a pass to Urbanek on the left post for her first career goal.

"It felt really good because I've been practicing that a lot, focusing on my inserting this year," Urbanek said on her first goal as a Hoosier. "Executing it in the game feels great."

Indiana's all-out attack resulted in their fourth goal just two minutes after Urbanek's score. Karen Lorite delivered a hit from a penalty corner, which found the back of the goal after a defensive deflection. The score was Lorite's fourth of the season.

Much of Indiana's success came from the volume of chances. Prior to this contest, Indiana had 22 total penalty corners, averaging 3.6 per game. Today, they totaled 13 penalty corner opportunities.

"The stats are really improving this season," Barber said. "Last year, we struggled getting corners and getting opportunities in the circle. But this game proves that we're capable of doing that."

The Hoosiers will look to build momentum from this win as they head into Big Ten play next weekend. The Hoosiers will open their Big Ten schedule at home on Friday, September 25 against Iowa, followed by another home game against Northwestern on Sunday, September 27. After receiving a series of tough tests through their first seven games, the Hoosiers believe they're ready to take on the Big Ten.

"We have high expectations. We know that we have such a hard-working, aggressive team that can win big games," Janney said, confident in her team's chances against one of the top college hockey conferences. "We know that we can score goals, and now we just have to do it in our Big Ten competition."

Janney emphasized that the Hoosiers get a clean slate heading into conference play—their Big Ten record reads 0-0 at the moment. With that in mind, Indiana will look to start their conference campaign with one game in the win column.

"The way we've been playing, I have really high expectations, especially coming off of this win," said Barber. "There's a lot we can still grow off of, but I think we will come out with a big win."