Hoosiers Close Regular Season with 3-0 Loss at Syracuse

Sunday, October 30

Syracuse, NY

1 PM

Indiana University

(8-11)

Syracuse

(14-2)

Indiana

Syracuse

Hoosiers Close Regular Season with 3-0 Loss at Syracuse

10/30/2016 3:18:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes

Johnson notches career high for saves in second start

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Indiana field hockey team brought their 2016 regular season to a close with one of their toughest challenges yet, a game on the speedy turf at J.S. Coyne Stadium against No. 2 Syracuse. The Hoosiers (8-11, 3-5) received an outstanding effort from junior goalkeeper Katie Johnson, but the Orange (14-2, 4-2) handed Indiana a 3-0 defeat.

"It was a brand new turf they just installed this year, it was very fast and played great. That, along with the speed of play of Syracuse, made for a great game of hockey," said Indiana head coach Amanda Janney. "Our team really fought hard, and made some great plays that doesn't necessarily reflect on the scoreboard."

Johnson's shift at goalkeeper may have been the standout performance across both sidelines on the afternoon, as she compiled a career-high 11 saves against 22 shots faced. In her first two career starts this weekend, Johnson tallied 19 saves in 134 minutes between the pipes.

"She really stepped up to the challenge, especially against the teams we played this weekend," said Johnson's senior teammate, Malia Fujisawa. "I'm more than proud to have her back there. She was incredibly vocal, she stepped out of the cage when she needed to, and she made some incredible saves. She did a fantastic job."

Johnson took the reigns of the stingy Indiana back line this weekend from Noëlle Rother, who is training with the U-21 German National Team for the upcoming Hockey Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile. Janney commended Johnson's play this weekend, saying she did well to continue the Hoosiers' successes in their defensive 25.

"K.J. gave a great effort and made some big saves for us today," Janney said. "We're happy with our whole defensive unit; I think our penalty corner unit was really strong. We've seen Syracuse score on so many penalty corners that we're really happy the defense stuck to the game plan and executed on corner defense."

Kate Barber mustered three shots to lead Indiana's attack, followed by Abby Urbanek and Sheridan Weiss with one shot each. On defense, Mollie Getzfread recorded her first defensive save of the season, sweeping the ball away from the goal line in the 62^nd minute.

The Hoosiers did well to keep the game within reach heading into the second half. Indiana nearly took a 1-0 lead in the 15^th minute, when Barber threaded a long ball towards Sam Scire in front of goal, but the chance slipped wide.

Syracuse edged in front at the 20-minute mark on a penalty corner. Johnson stuffed the initial straight shot, but Laura Hurff cleaned up the attempt and finished the rebound. The Hoosiers had a chance at a tie in the 33^rd minute from Weiss, but a defensive save cleared the shot.

The Orange doubled their lead after halftime in the 40^th minute, converting a counterattack after an Indiana penalty corner, and followed up with a third goal in the 50^th minute in the run of play.

Indiana had chances to enter the ledger down the stretch, including a close range shot from Barber immediately following Syracuse's score, but the Orange back line held firm.

"It's nice only having a short week of practice and a game on Thursday," Janney said. "This weekend we were able to work on a lot of players in different positions, interchanging to get some of our younger players on the field. The underclassmen stepped up and provided sparks off the bench. Our freshmen made some plays this weekend, and seeing our underclassmen improve every weekend is a good sign for our postseason."

Up Next: 2016 Big Ten Tournament
Quarterfinals: (7) Indiana (8-11, 3-5) vs. #6 (2) Penn State (14-2, 6-2)
Thursday, November 3 • 12:30 p.m. ET • Live Stats • Watch: BTN2Go.com
Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex • College Park, Md. • Tournament Central

Indiana will tap into their short-term memory this Thursday, as only six days will have passed from their last meeting with Penn State. They'll look to correct the record against the Nittany Lions, who handed Indiana an early exit from last year's Big Ten Tournament in Bloomington.

"It's a huge advantage for us to play a team that we've seen recently. They're a really fast, high-quality team so I think it's going to be a great game," Janney said. "It took us a half to figure them out, and we played really strong in the second half. For us to come off of that second half at Penn State gives us confidence going into the tournament, knowing we were able to score two goals against them. We want to keep that momentum going."

The game with second-seeded Penn State and seventh-seeded Indiana will be the second of four contests on the tournament's opening day, and is set for a 12:30 p.m. start at Maryland's Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.