Indiana University Athletics
Field Hockey Ready for No. 2 Michigan
10/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
October 18, 2002
Bloomington, IN - The Indiana field hockey team goes up against the defending NCAA champions, No. 2 Michigan tonight at 6:00 in Mellencamp Pavilion. The Hoosiers enter the contest 3-9, 1-2-0 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines are on an 11 game winning streak, extending their record to 12-1, 3-0 in the conference.
Over the past two seasons, the Wolverines have burst onto the national scene, qualifying for each of the last two NCAA Tournaments and spending the entire time ranked among the country's top 10 teams. In addition, Michigan has identified itself as a power in the Big Ten, capturing the last two Big Ten Tournament championships as well as posting the fifth undefeated season in conference history with a 6-0 mark in 2000.
This year the Wolverines are off to a similar start, posting an overall record of 12-1 and 3-0 in the conference. Michigan' s only loss was a shutout from Wake Forest on Sept. 1, 2-0.
April Fronzoni, who received All West Region first team and All-Big Ten Conference second team honors last season, and Molly Powers are tied for third in points with 27 in Big Ten play. Teammate Stephanie Johnson, honored with All-West Region second team and All Big Ten first team accolades last season, is ninth with 19 points.
Powers and Fronzoni show up in the goal category, ranked third and fourth with 13 and 12 goals respectively.
In the assists category, 2001 All-West Region second team and All Big Ten first team honoree Kristi Gannon and teammate Katy Moyneur are tied for fifth with seven.
Goalkeeper Molly Maloney leads the Big Ten in shutouts with six and second in goals against average (10).
The Hoosiers last played at No. 5 Michigan State on Oct. 12, dropping to the Wolverines, 5-1. After a week of rest, IU is ready for its next challenge.
"Having a week off has allowed us to revisit things that we needed to work on," head coach Amy Robertson said. "Sometimes you have a lot of emphasis on aspect of the game and you forget another and you realize that you need to come back and focus on that, so it certainly helps us."
Nikki Orciuch has used her speed on attack and has been an offensive spark for the Hoosiers, scoring the last two goals for Indiana.
"Nikki has a very explosive first step," said coach Robertson. "She creates a lot of chaos, whenever a defender has a forward that runs by them, they get frazzled. She creates that in the defense, she draws players to her and it opens up other teammates."
On the defensive end of the field IU is going to have to play almost flawless in order to stop the penetration of the dominating Wolverine attack, who last year got off 38 shots and generated 16 corners.
"A huge factor is not letting them get any corners," goalkeeper Molly Pulkrabek said. "They have an amazingly hard shot off their corners that is very hard to stop. Last year they scored many of their goals against us on their corners. Overall we need to be tough on defense and try to stop them from entering into our defensive 25-yard line."
As is the case for any defensive group, the key is communication and staying poised.
"We have to play as a very tight unit," coach Robertson said. We have to remain poised, we have to play with confidence and really cover each other. Lastly, we have to have great communication in the backfield."
