The Ohio State Women’s Field Hockey team huddles up before the Ohio State-Iowa game March 19, 2021. Ohio State lost 2-1. Credit: Christian Harsa | Special Projects Director
The Ohio State field hockey team will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to compete in the 2022 Hockeypalooza this weekend.
Hockeypalooza is an annual field hockey tournament hosted by the University of Michigan at Phyllis Ocker Field during the spring. Five of the teams competing belong to the Big Ten: Iowa, Michigan State, Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State. Louisville will round out the tournament field.
Games will be played in four 12 1/2 minute quarters instead of the standard 15 minutes.
Head coach Jarred Martin said he uses the spring season to test new movement patterns and player positions.
“I want to see how we use our skills and decision-making when testing some new formations,” Martin said. “We’ll have players in different spots to see if they may fit better here or there.”
Last weekend, the Buckeyes played Louisville, Ohio University and Miami (OH) to begin their spring exhibition schedule. Martin said the goal for last weekend was to test different set pieces.
“Those games, in particular, we wanted to work on set pieces,” Martin said. “We can take these adjustments into the fall season after going against some excellent teams.”
Ohio State finished 7-11 last year and closed the season on a six-game losing streak.
On the first day of the tournament, the Buckeyes will square off with the 2021 NCAA champions, the Northwestern Wildcats.
“Great competition all across the board,” Martin said. “We’ve played these teams all year, so it’ll be great to see what we can offer in this spring tournament.”
The Buckeyes will play Saturday against Iowa at 9 a.m., followed by a match against the champions Northwestern at 1 p.m. They’ll follow up Sunday with matches against Michigan State at 10:15 a.m. before playing Louisville at 1 p.m.
