The very well known saying “defense wins championships but offense will win you games” was put on full display in Saturday’s ranked Big Ten matchup: No. 18 Indiana Hoosiers and No. 13 Michigan Wolverines. Indiana's offense had 12 shots and seven of them being on frame.
The net minder for the Wolverines was redshirt junior Hala Silverstein who has had a great year thus far. In seven games she faced 21 shots and only allowed five goals. Against Indiana, Silverstein saved six, making her season total 15. Just goes to show how great the Michigan defense has been. Indiana head coach Kayla Bashore said, “they [Michigan] were hard to get around and were locking up some of our best players.”
That didn't stop the Hoosiers. After many great chances in the first half it seemed impossible for the Hoosiers to get a goal. It turned out to be very possible because if you keep knocking on the door you’re bound to get an answer, and an answer is what the Hoosiers got.
A Michigan elbow inside their own half circle rewarded Indiana a penalty corner where the ball ended up finding standout Hoosier Molly Stutte at the top of the half circle where she then found the stick of Theresa Ricci back door to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute of the game, which ended up standing as the final score.
Ricci, who scored her third goal of the season, said, “we have been working a lot on our corners and Molly just did her thing and I happened to be on the back post.”
The second year attacker Stutte has been the heartbeat of the Hoosier offense as she leads the team in goals with seven. She got the assist Saturday on Ricci’s goal, adding to her season total making it seven assists on the season.
“She's a free player, creative, and has a lot of technical skills to score,” Bashore said of Stutte. “She feels really confident in her play and it's nice to see her get out here and have fun with it.”
The Hoosiers spent last weekend in Iowa City where they took on the ranked Hawkeyes. When Stutte and Ricci were asked on being back home they said, “it was great to be back home.”
They were also asked how great it was to play in front of the student athletic board who packed out the student section in today's matchup.
“I love when they come to our games,” Ricci said. “I think field hockey is a very underrated sport and they always get into it.”
“It really helps us on the field,” Stutte said, “people who are cheering for us because we wouldn’t have that [support] otherwise.”
The Hoosiers offense looks to keep things rolling as they face another Big Ten opponent Michigan State Spartans on the road Oct. 2.
