Hoosiers Fall to Ohio State, 1-0, in Final Home Game

Friday, October 21

Bloomington, IN

3 PM

Indiana University

(8-9)

Ohio State

(6-10)

Ohio State

Indiana

Hoosiers Fall to Ohio State, 1-0, in Final Home Game

10/21/2016 7:52:00 PM | Field Hockey

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana field hockey team suffered a 1-0 defeat to Ohio State in the Hoosiers' (8-9, 3-4) final home game of the 2016 season. The Buckeyes (6-10, 1-6) split the difference with a goal from Esther Clotet-Alsina in the 24^th minute to earn their first conference win of the year.

The loss didn't take away from the celebration of Indiana's senior class, who played the final home game of their careers at the IU Field Hockey Complex. Kate Barber, Morgan Dye, Malia Fujisawa, and Mollie Getzfread left everything they had on the turf in the game.

"The four seniors we have are four of the hardest-working people on and off the field that I've ever known, and it really showed today," said junior forward Maddie Latino. "All four of them gave all of their effort, all-out, for 70 minutes. There isn't one person on our team who questions how hard they work, because their work ethic goes above and beyond. I hope that their talent and work ethic motivates everyone else on the team to give it all in their time remaining here. They're such great role models, so it was a bittersweet day."

The Buckeyes placed seven shots on frame to Indiana's three, and won the penalty corner by a narrow 6-5 margin. The Hoosiers pressed for an equalizer in the second half, earning four penalty corners down the stretch. On the final attempt, Barber lined up for her fifth and final attempt of the game on a corner hit, but the chance drifted too high.

"We did a really good job of fighting for corners at the end, but we needed better execution" Latino said. "There were a lot of times where we slipped—an extra foot got in the circle or we didn't get the rebound—so we need to work on putting those chances in. We had our opportunities and chances to go up in the game. We could use our wings and our speed more as well in our attacking 25, so we can go around the defense better."

Noëlle Rother held the line with six saves and one goal allowed in a shortened shift. The recently named NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week returned to form with another series of acrobatic saves to keep the Hoosiers in the game until the final whistle.

Ohio State's game winner came with a considerable amount of skill from Clotet-Alsina. The freshman forward made a run into the circle on Rother's left side after cutting past her defender, and fired a backhand from 15 yards into the high-left corner of the net.

Indiana sought the equalizer before halftime, earning their first penalty corner with a minute remaining in the period. Barber's aim was true on the ensuing hit, but Buckeye goalkeeper Liz Tamburro parried it out of harm's way.

The Hoosier attack created a series of good looks in the final 17 minutes of play, including three penalty corner chances. The Hoosiers went all-out in the final five minutes, exchanging Rother in goal for an additional attacker, but their closing effort came short of the tying goal.

Up Next: Indiana (8-9, 3-4) at No. 6 Penn State (13-2, 5-2)
Friday, October 28 • 6:00 p.m. ET • Live Stream • GameTracker
University Park, Pa. • Penn State Field Hockey Complex

For the first time this season, the Hoosiers will not play two games this weekend, and they'll take advantage of a week of preparation for an upcoming weekend against two top-10 foes. The Hoosiers' final weekend of the regular season begins at No. 6 Penn State, their last Big Ten game of their regular season slate. After that, the Hoosiers head north for a season closer on Sunday at No. 3 Syracuse.

"We know Penn State has really fast forwards and they're a good attacking team, so we need to take our film into consideration," Latino said on the team's preparation for their final weekend before the Big Ten Tournament. "We'll look at the film from this game and look for the good things while finding the adjustments, and then take those into practice and work on them. There are little things that we can fix, and getting those changes will be crucial against Penn State and Syracuse."