Hoosiers Close Weekend With Win at Central Michigan, 6-1

Sunday, September 25

Mount Pleasant, MI

12 PM

Indiana University

(6-4)

Central Michigan

(1-8)

Team	1	2	Final F
Indiana	4	2	6
Central Michigan	1	0	1

Hoosiers Close Weekend With Win at Central Michigan, 6-1

9/25/2016 3:13:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Barber, Girouard lead attack with two goals apiece

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The steady increase of the Hoosiers' pace paid dividends in their 6-1 win at Central Michigan on Sunday afternoon. Indiana (6-4, 1-1) pulled away from a 1-1 tie early in the first half with a converted penalty stroke and two scores in a 19-second span, giving the Hoosiers their fourth win away from Bloomington.

"We're still trying to improve on certain concepts in our play, in terms of our system and pressing," said Indiana head coach Amanda Janney. "We really took the fast speed of play from last weekend into this one, and to be able to get six goals with five field goals is a great sign of how dynamic our attack is and the variety of people we have on our team that can score."

Maddie Latino paced the Hoosier attack, which mustered a season-high 23 shots, with one goal and one assist in the first half of play. Latino's top offensive output of the year included a 19-second sequence, in which the junior drove the ball into the circle for an assist and quickly countered for her second goal of the game.

National scoring leader Kate Barber restored her average of 1.5 goals per game with two on Sunday afternoon. In the first half, Barber flicked her second penalty stroke of the weekend into the netting to regain IU's lead. In the 41^st minute of the second half, Barber again delivered with a score in the run of play for her 15^th goal of the season.

A new name entered the score sheet when Ciara Girouard hammered home her first career goal in the 27^th minute, finishing a brilliant run from Latino. The freshman forward doubled her scoring debut in the 48^th minute to cap the Hoosiers' scoring at 6-1.

"I was really excited, because Maddie set me up perfectly so I had to be there," Girouard said after her first goal. "She did a great job of setting me up, so props to her. It was exciting because, as a forward, I should be scoring, so it's a good feeling to finally do it."

Taylor Pearson mopped up the Hoosiers' attack penalty corner rebound and opened scoring with the first goal in the 13^th minute, while adding an assist on Latino's goal in the 27^th minute. It's the fifth time in Indiana's last six games that Pearson has scored at least one goal, and her sixth game with at least a goal or an assist.

Two additional Hoosiers—Morgan Dye and Taylor Swope—etched into the ledger with one assist each. Dye's second assist of the season came via a precise entry to Pearson in the circle to kick off the scoring frenzy. For Swope, she earns her first career assist after linking with Barber on her 41^st-minute field goal.

"It was a really fast-paced game," Janney said. "Central Michigan was a tough opponent that really tested us with their counterattack. They made it really difficult for us to defend them on the counterattack, but our defense really stepped up, especially in the second half. Katie Johnson had a fantastic second half for us with some big saves, and the defense played tough to shut them out in the second half."

Johnson and Noëlle Rother split halves between the posts, and anchored an outstanding defensive effort with Nora Aucker, Elle Hempt, and Malia Fujisawa in the back line. The goalkeeping tandem combined for six saves, and the unit cleared four of the Chippewas' five attack penalty corners.

"Leading up to today's game, we were talking a lot about switches we needed to make on our defensive line, where our backs should be in regards to their zone," Johnson said after holding the Chippewas to a scoreless second period. "I think we did a great job of communicating with each other for the length of our positioning and holding our ground from there."

Up Next: Indiana (6-4, 1-1 Big Ten) vs. No. 15 Iowa (6-4, 0-3 Big Ten)
Friday, September 30 • 3:00 p.m. ET • Watch: BTN2Go.com
Bloomington, Ind. • IU Field Hockey Complex

The second Big Ten home game of the season awaits the Hoosiers upon their return to Bloomington, as they ready for a matchup with the No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes. Last season, Indiana triumphed in a 3-1 home win for their first of five Big Ten victories. Coach Janney and the Hoosiers hope to stay true to their style of play as they ready for the Hawkeyes, who carry one of the nation's top offenses.

"We want to make sure we're playing our style of play, executing the basics and cleaning some things up on defense," said Janney. "We want to have a good variety of attacking opportunities for ourselves, and the fact that we were able to get so many shots on goal today is a good sign of our aggressive attack."

The Hawkeyes sprung into action with a 5-1 start to their season, including a narrow win over Wake Forest in their season opener. They've since dropped three of their last four games, all against the Big Ten.