Indiana Field Hockey to Open Season at Kent State

Friday, August 30

Kent, Ohio.

11:00 AM

Indiana University

Kent State

BLOOMINGTON, IN - August 25, 2024 - goalkeeper Arabella Loveridge #7 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the exhibition game between the Louisville Cardinals and the Indiana Hoosiers at IU Field Hockey Complex in Bloomington, IN. Photo By \KEP#2\

Indiana Field Hockey to Open Season at Kent State

8/29/2024 1:00:00 PM | Field Hockey

Game Notes (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Indiana Field Hockey's 2024 campaign gets off to a fast start this weekend as it will play three games in four days. The Hoosiers will start the season with two games on the road, playing at Kent State (Aug. 30) and against No. 11 Liberty (Aug. 31) in Kent. Indiana will then come home for their home opener on Labor Day against Maine.

NEW YEAR, NEW TEAM:
-Indiana Field Hockey is ready to bounce back in the 2024 season after finishing 6-13 in the 2023 campaign.

-The team fought through a difficult schedule last season that included 10 games against Top 20-ranked opponents. Seven of those games were against Big Ten foes.

-Indiana will look to improve off of last season with several returning players and their talented newcomers. The Hoosiers have ten seniors and nine newcomers on this year's roster.

THE 2024 HOOSIERS:
-Indiana returns 20 players from last year's team while losing eight from a season ago.

-Indiana returns three of their top four scorers from 2023 (Ines Garcia Prado 2, Yip Van Wonderen 2, Meghan Dillon 2).

-Indiana welcomes seven new Freshmen and two transfers to Bloomington for the 2024 season.

-The Freshmen include Keke Sluiter, Morgan Qualls, Josie Naeger, Charlotte Glasper, Mijntje Hagen, Sadie Canelli and Iman Aicha Tabbai Marzocca.

-Sluiter, Hagen and Tabbai Marzocca come to Bloomington from other countries. Sluiter and Hagen are from the Netherlands while Tabbai Marzocca is from Argentina.

-Glasper went to Shaker Heights (Ohio), the same high school that produced Hoosier teammates Javi Baeza and Maggie Carter.

-The two transfers include sophomore back Elen Nicholls from Delaware and graduate goalkeeper Brooke Ross from Holy Cross.

-Nicholls played in 17 games in 2023 and made three starts.

-Ross made 34 career starts in the cage during her time at Holy Cross. During the 2023 season she recorded a career-high 140 saves and a single-game high of 18 saves against Brown.

-Ross was named the 2023 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year and All-Patriot League First Team.

CURRENT IN COACHING:
-Indiana University recently announced the IU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024 which included head coach Kayla Bashore.

-Bashore was recognized for her outstanding career at IU, where she became the most decorated player in program history.

-Among her numerous accolades, Bashore was the 2005 Big Ten Player of the Year and a three-time First-Team All-Big Ten honoree. She also earned All-America honors multiple teams, being named First-Team All-American in 2005 and Second Team in the 2003 season.

-Bashore will be officially inducted with Kevin Berry, Danny O-Rourke, Victor Oladipo, Max Skirvin and Jody Kim on Sept. 20 and recognized at halftime of the Indiana-Charlotte football game the next day.

-Indiana assistant coach Sasha Elliott is in her first season on the Hoosier staff and her first collegiate coaching stop.

-Elliott played as a goalkeeper for VCU (2018-21) and at Louisville (2022).

-Elliott played 61 career games during her time at VCU and was the starting goalkeeper during her four seasons there. She would lead the Rams to an Atlantic 10 title in the spring 2021 season and was named the Atlantic 10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player.

- Elliott brought her talents to Louisville where she was named All-ACC First Team. She led the ACC in saves percentage (.775) and goals against average (1.44).

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION:
-The Hoosiers open the 2024 season with two games in Kent, Ohio, starting off with Kent State before a neutral site game with No. 11 Liberty.

-The Golden Eagles finished the 2023 season with an 8-11 record. This was their second consecutive season finishing with eight wins (8-10 in 2022).

-This will be the first time Indiana will play at Kent State for the season opener since 2012. Kent State won that matchup, 5-3. The last time These teams played in a season opener was in Bloomington in 2022 where Indiana won 1-0 in overtime.

-IU will stay in Kent, Ohio for a neutral site game against No. 11 Liberty who finished 17-3 in 2023. The Flames have finished the past six seasons with double-digit wins, including a 2021 national runner-up finish.

-Indiana's matchup with Liberty will mark the third consecutive year of playing against the Flames. Last year, Indiana lost in Lynchburg, 2-1, in overtime. In 2022, Liberty won 2-0 in Bloomington.

-IU will travel back home to play Maine at 11:30 a.m. on Labor Day at Deborah Tobias Field.

-The Black Bears finished the 2023 season with an 8-12 record.

-This will be the third-ever meeting between Indiana and Maine with the record split at 1-1 all time.

OVERTIME TIDBITS:
-Indiana's Ines Garcia Prado, Yip Van Wonderen and Sydney Keld were named to the Big Ten's preseason Players to Watch list.

-Indiana's 2023 team captains of Jemima Cookson and Sydney Keld are both team captains again in 2024. Senior Sofia Arrebola Garcia and junior Emma Thompson were voted in as team captains in the spring, as well.

-Indiana's roster features a trio and pair of former high school teammates who are now playing together again. Maggie Carter, Javi Baeza, and Charlotte Glasper played together at Shaker Heights High School (Ohio). Meredith Lee and Hannah Riddle played together at Assumption High School (Kentucky).