A new season begins for the Ohio State field hockey team tomorrow, as the Buckeyes will play host to the Big Ten Championship tournament kicking off on the Woody Hayes North Turf Field.
“We went through a lot this season but we have a completely fresh outlook on this weekend,” said OSU field hockey coach Anne Wilkinson. “We are ready to continue learning, and we are open to new ideas about our game.”
The first game of the single-elimination tournament will be played at 10 a.m. tomorrow between No. 2 Michigan State and No. 7 Indiana. The noon game will feature the No. 4 Buckeyes against No. 5 Iowa.
The last time OSU faced off against Iowa, the Buckeyes topped the Hawkeyes, 1-0, in double-overtime play. Iowa will prove to be tough competition with its strong attack and solid defense backed up by Hawkeye sophomore goalkeeper Barb Weinberg.
“We’re lucky to be having the Big Ten Tournament on our home field,” said junior midfielder Mariana Solorzano. “Our regular season is over, and now we are focusing on beginning a new season of Big Ten play.”
The Buckeyes lost to Michigan State 5-1 in the last game of the regular season.
“We knew going into the game that Michigan State was a good team,” said freshman goalkeeper Lara Koole. “We’re going to remember the good points about the first half of the game and know that we can match the skill of a team as good as Michigan State.”
OSU junior midfielder Vanessa Immordino is the Buckeyes’ leader in scoring with 11 goals and five assists.
“We feel well prepared to play any team this weekend,” Wilkinson said. “In practice this week we have been looking at the shape of our defense and forming our attack. We’ve been working on bringing out the best in each player,” she said. “We are ready to play and are planning to focus on one game at a time.”
The 2 p.m. game pairs No. 3 Penn State and No. 6 Northwestern. The No. 1-seeded University of Michigan team will be awarded a bye and will automatically advance to the semifinals. Michigan will play the winner of the OSU-Iowa game at noon on Saturday.
Both teams from Michigan pose a big scoring threat to all competitors in the Big Ten Tournament. The rankings favor Michigan and Michigan State to go head-to-head in the final championship game.
Michigan is led by junior forward April Fronzoni with 17 goals and five assists. Michigan State’s sophomore midfielder Annebet Beerman has racked up 15 goals this season.
The second semifinal game will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The championship game will be played at noon on Sunday. The winning team of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA championships.
If the weather proves difficult for any of the games this weekend, the tournament will be postponed and completed on Monday.
