Thursday, November 3
College Park, MD
12:30 PM
Indiana University
vs
Penn State
Big Ten Tournament Awaits Hoosiers in Maryland
11/2/2016 1:03:00 PM | Field Hockey
Indiana faces a rematch from their 2015 quarterfinal
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana field hockey team has a unique opportunity in their second consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearance.
The Hoosiers (8-11, 3-5) will open their postseason with a quarterfinal matchup against second-seeded, sixth-ranked Penn State on Thursday, November 3 at 12:30 p.m. Not only is Penn State a familiar foe—Thursday's game is the teams' fourth meeting in the last two seasons—the Hoosiers played the Nittany Lions just five days ago in their last regular season conference game.
"It's great that we're playing them so close together," said Indiana head coach Amanda Janney. "You have a little more motivation when you know you didn't play your best the last time you played a team. Our team is really fired up to do well in the postseason, and with last year being the first year in after not making it the year before, we had some nervous players and people not used to getting to the postseason. This year, we know what that pressure feels like, and we're in a much better place this season after our experience from last year."
In their last meeting, the Hoosiers fell short of a second half comeback in a 3-2 defeat at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. The Nittany Lions set a 3-0 lead before Kate Barber scored two record-breaking goals to give the Hoosiers a chance to tie the game down the stretch. Last season, Indiana won the regular season meeting with Penn State, 1-0, before falling on the wrong side of a 3-1 score line in the Big Ten quarterfinals."
"It's definitely been on our minds, and we want to come back and take it to them and get another win," said junior Maddie Latino. "It's in our benefit that we played them last weekend and we have such a short turnaround before playing them again. The things we saw last week are likely more of what we'll see this week, so we'll be prepared."
With the tournament beginning on Thursday, the Hoosiers only had one day for training between weekends at the IU Field Hockey Complex. While conventional wisdom leans towards more practice benefitting your preparation, coach Janney knows her players can make the best of it. They're competitors, after all, so they're always ready to play a game.
"We needed to clean up our back tackles and staying in on the play," said senior Kate Barber, reflecting on last Friday's game. "They play a lot of give-and-go passes, so we worked to improve our covering defense and getting our weak side forwards to stay in on the play."
Given the Hoosiers' standing in the RPI rankings, the Hoosiers would need to win the tournament championship to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, making every game this weekend a win-or-go-home scenario for Indiana. That strikes a chord with Indiana's senior class—Barber, Morgan Dye, Malia Fujisawa, and Mollie Getzfread—who have conveyed their sense of urgency well. If the Hoosiers can edge Penn State on Thursday, it would be the seniors' first win in the postseason.
"They're bringing the same level of competition every week of practice," Janney said of the four seniors. "The upperclassmen are pushing each other and encouraging everyone, but they're also pushing to where they're demanding the best of their teammates. The way that we've seen our team prove from August to now has been fantastic, and the seniors have led that push."
The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal matchup will move on to face the winner of No. 10 Michigan and Michigan State on Friday, November 4 at 1:00 p.m. Follow all of the postseason action, including Indiana's first round game, live on BTN2Go.com.
The Hoosiers (8-11, 3-5) will open their postseason with a quarterfinal matchup against second-seeded, sixth-ranked Penn State on Thursday, November 3 at 12:30 p.m. Not only is Penn State a familiar foe—Thursday's game is the teams' fourth meeting in the last two seasons—the Hoosiers played the Nittany Lions just five days ago in their last regular season conference game.
"It's great that we're playing them so close together," said Indiana head coach Amanda Janney. "You have a little more motivation when you know you didn't play your best the last time you played a team. Our team is really fired up to do well in the postseason, and with last year being the first year in after not making it the year before, we had some nervous players and people not used to getting to the postseason. This year, we know what that pressure feels like, and we're in a much better place this season after our experience from last year."
In their last meeting, the Hoosiers fell short of a second half comeback in a 3-2 defeat at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. The Nittany Lions set a 3-0 lead before Kate Barber scored two record-breaking goals to give the Hoosiers a chance to tie the game down the stretch. Last season, Indiana won the regular season meeting with Penn State, 1-0, before falling on the wrong side of a 3-1 score line in the Big Ten quarterfinals."
"It's definitely been on our minds, and we want to come back and take it to them and get another win," said junior Maddie Latino. "It's in our benefit that we played them last weekend and we have such a short turnaround before playing them again. The things we saw last week are likely more of what we'll see this week, so we'll be prepared."
With the tournament beginning on Thursday, the Hoosiers only had one day for training between weekends at the IU Field Hockey Complex. While conventional wisdom leans towards more practice benefitting your preparation, coach Janney knows her players can make the best of it. They're competitors, after all, so they're always ready to play a game.
"We needed to clean up our back tackles and staying in on the play," said senior Kate Barber, reflecting on last Friday's game. "They play a lot of give-and-go passes, so we worked to improve our covering defense and getting our weak side forwards to stay in on the play."
Given the Hoosiers' standing in the RPI rankings, the Hoosiers would need to win the tournament championship to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, making every game this weekend a win-or-go-home scenario for Indiana. That strikes a chord with Indiana's senior class—Barber, Morgan Dye, Malia Fujisawa, and Mollie Getzfread—who have conveyed their sense of urgency well. If the Hoosiers can edge Penn State on Thursday, it would be the seniors' first win in the postseason.
"They're bringing the same level of competition every week of practice," Janney said of the four seniors. "The upperclassmen are pushing each other and encouraging everyone, but they're also pushing to where they're demanding the best of their teammates. The way that we've seen our team prove from August to now has been fantastic, and the seniors have led that push."
The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal matchup will move on to face the winner of No. 10 Michigan and Michigan State on Friday, November 4 at 1:00 p.m. Follow all of the postseason action, including Indiana's first round game, live on BTN2Go.com.
Players Mentioned
Defender/Midfield
/ Field Hockey
Forward/Midfield
/ Field Hockey
Defender
/ Field Hockey
Defender/Midfield
/ Field Hockey
Forward/Midfield
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