Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Begin Spring Tournament Season
3/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
March 4, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana field hockey team opened the spring portion of its schedule this past weekend with a tournament hosted by Ball State. The Hoosiers split their team into two teams for the competition and came away with second and third place finishes.
The two Indiana teams were placed in opposite pools for pool play and both advanced to the championship round after pool play was completed. The Red team posted a 2-0-1 mark in pool play while the White team was 2-1. As the bracket worked out, the two IU teams squared off in a semifinal game with the Red team coming away with the win. They advanced to the finals to take on Miami (Ohio). The Redhawks had their full team together for the game and defeated the Hoosiers to take the title. The White team was victorious in the consolation game to take third place honors.
"We made a huge improvement from the first game to the last game," Indiana head coach Amy Robertson said. "And we have continued to get better over the course of our three weeks of practice leading up to the tournament."
The games were played indoors with some modifications to the rules and playing dimensions. Instead of the normal 11-on-11 play used during the regular season, the field was shortened considerably and it was 5-on-5 and a goalkeeper for each team.
"Playing with these rules forces the players to work on their skills and decision making in a very small space," Robertson said about the changes. "Teams are forced to execute precisely with the field being so small, so we were very excited to prepare for a tournament like this."
