Indiana University Athletics
Field Hockey Announces 2008 Schedule
6/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
June 11, 2008
2008 Field Hockey Schedule
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana field hockey team and head coach Amy Robertson announced the 2008 schedule on Wednesday, with the Hoosiers opening the season on the road for the first eight games of the season. The home opener will also be the Big Ten opener when Indiana hosts the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sept. 26 at the IU Field Hockey Field.
Robertson, who is entering her ninth season at the helm of the Indiana program, will take the Hoosiers to the East Coast to open the season with games at Rutgers (Aug. 29) and Saint Joseph's (Aug. 31). Rutgers won eight games a year ago while Saint Joseph's advanced to the Atlantic 10 tournament championship game.
"Our season opener this year will provide the team with the excitement of the unknown, as we play Rutgers for only the second time ever and Saint Joseph's for the first time," Robertson said. "When you play a program for the first time you are able to play with the freedom of no expectations and have the opportunity to problem-solve against different styles than what you are accustomed to. Both Rutgers and St Joe's are coming off of a successful year in 2007 and I know they will provide us with great competition and challenge us in many ways."
From there the Hoosiers will return to the Midwest, in particular Saint Louis, for a pair of games. The first opponent will be Missouri State on Sept. 6, a team Indiana shutout 8-0 last year in Bloomington. The following day, Sept. 7, pits the Hoosiers against the Bilikens of Saint Louis University, a team Indiana also defeated by a score of 8-0 a season ago.
The following weekend could arguably be the most difficult of the season, as the Hoosiers travel to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. for a pair of games. Indiana will get the weekend started on Sept. 13 when they square off against the Ohio University Bobcats. The next day, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will be the opponent and are coming off an appearance in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The coaches at all three schools were, or still are, part of the Wake Forest coaching staff at one point during their careers.
"We may have started a new tradition of the current and former coaches from Wake Forest as we duplicate the playoff between Wake Forest, Indiana and Ohio again this year on Wake's home turf," said Robertson, who was on the Wake Forest coaching staff from 1997-99 before taking the reins of the IU program. "This is a really exciting and challenging weekend for all the teams. It is always an honor and a great opportunity to play Wake Forest, who ended their season in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament and Ohio, who has won the MAC conference the past two seasons and will contend in the top 15 nationally in 2008."
As the Hoosiers continue to work their way back towards the Hoosier state, Robertson will lead IU against the University of the Pacific on Sept. 18 in a game that will be played at Miami (Ohio) University in Oxford, Ohio. Two days later on Sept. 20, the Hoosiers make the short trip north to Muncie, Ind., to battle the Ball State University Cardinals. Indiana defeated Pacific in their season opener last year, 2-1, and posted a 2-0 shutout against Ball State in Bloomington in last year's meeting.
After four weekends of road games, the Hoosiers finally arrive home on Sept. 26 to open the home and Big Ten portions of the schedule. The Iowa Hawkeyes, who defeated the Hoosiers in the Big Ten Tournament in 2007, will be the first of five opponents on the IU Field Hockey Field for the Hoosiers.
The first weekend in October will send the Hoosiers back out on the road, this time heading north to the state of Michigan for a pair of games. The Michigan State Spartans (Oct. 3) will be the first foe of the weekend followed by Central Michigan two days later on Oct. 5.
With all the traveling the Hoosiers will be doing during the early part of the year, they finally get a pair of home games the second weekend in October. A pair of Big Ten rivals, Ohio State (Oct. 10) and Michigan (Oct. 12), will come calling as the teams continue conference play. The homestand continues the following weekend when the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks make the trip to Bloomington for a non-conference tussle.
The Hoosiers will then play two of their final three games on the road, starting with the long road trip to University Park, Pa., to battle the Penn State Nittany Lions on Oct. 17.
The final home game of the season will see a regional rival make an appearance at the IU Field Hockey Field, as the Louisville Cardinals make the short trip to IU on Oct. 29.
"All of our home games will provide the fans and our team with top competition," said Robertson, "as we host five different teams that should all end up somewhere in the top 20 in the country this upcoming season."
In the regular season finale on Nov. 1, Indiana will make the trip to Evanston, Ill., to tangle with the Northwestern Wildcats, a team the Hoosiers defeated last year to close the regular season, 2-1.
But the season will not stop there for the Hoosiers, because the IU Field Hockey Field will be the site of the 2008 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament that runs Nov. 6-9. This will be the first time in the brief history of the field hockey at Indiana that they have hosted the conference tournament.
"With the completion of the IU field hockey facility in 2007, we are finally able to host the Big Ten tournament," remarked Robertson. "This will give us a huge boost in motivation and purpose as we enter the season. There is nothing more empowering than hosting your own conference tournament and gaining the home field advantage. We are so excited to showcase the talent of Big Ten field hockey and compete for a championship in front of our home crowd."
