Indiana University Athletics
IU Field Hockey Announces 2011 Schedule
4/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
April 14, 2011
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The 2011 Indiana field hockey schedule features seven home games for the Hoosiers, including playing host to the ACC's Duke and three Big Ten games.
"Overall, we didn't pack in a lot of games this year," said IU head coach Amy Robertson. "We wanted to make sure we were really healthy, we could recover, and that we could do really well against the competition that we have."
The Hoosiers kick off the season with four straight home games, beginning with an opening weekend that features Miami (Ohio) on Aug. 26 and Duke on Aug. 28 in Bloomington.
"We are very excited about our opening weekend," said Robertson. "It's the first time we've hosted our opening weekend and the first time ever that we're playing Duke, which will be one of the top teams in the ACC, so that's a wonderful opportunity for us. The rest of our schedule we really focused on making sure we were hitting as many teams as possible in our region, so when it came to regional ranking, it would be pretty clear-cut where we stood."
Indiana will then play host to Ball State (Sept. 3) and Missouri State (Sept. 4), before taking its first road trip out west with visits to Stanford (Sept. 9) and California (Sept. 11). The Hoosiers will face UC Davis in Oxford, Ohio, on Sept. 15 before heading to Athens to take on Ohio University on Sept. 18.
"We have three seniors from California, so in tribute to what they have done for our program, we'll be visiting Stanford and California," Robertson said. "We'll do Friday at Stanford and a Sunday at California, which will be a big highlight in our whole schedule. We're really looking forward to playing some of the top teams in California, so that's going to be more great competition."
IU opens the Big Ten schedule at home with Northwestern on Sept. 23, before heading to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Oct. 1. Following a tough weekend that includes Penn State (Oct. 7) and Michigan State (Oct. 9) back-to-back in Bloomington, the Hoosiers travel to Iowa on Oct. 15.
"The Big Ten Conference is going to be really strong in 2011," said Robertson. "I think you'll see some change in powers. I think Penn State, in my mind, is going to be the front-runner for the Big Ten title. Through and through, it's going to be really exciting and we've got our work cut out for us."
Indiana will take a break from league play to face a pair of BIG EAST schools in Providence (Oct. 22) and Louisville (Oct. 23) in Kentucky. IU closes the regular season at Michigan on Oct. 28.
"We also wanted to get some competition against the BIG EAST, along with the ACC, so Duke is helping us fulfill a game against a top ACC conference and we are playing Louisville as we do each year, but also Providence," added Robertson. "It's great for us to be able to play a team from New England and a team in the BIG EAST Conference, which will help give us a picture of where we stand in the country. We'll have a very challenging weekend the second weekend in October when we host both Penn State and Michigan State, so that will be a big telling weekend about where we will stand in the Big Ten after the conclusion of that competition slate."
The 2011 Big Ten Tournament will be hosted by Penn State in State College on Nov. 3-6, while the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament take place on Nov. 12-13 on campus sites to be announced.
