Sept. 15, 2011
Final Stats
OXFORD, Ohio - Audra Heilman and Nicole Volgraf each scored two goals and Indiana picked up a key score early in the second half as the Hoosiers downed UC Davis 4-1 in a competitive nonconference women's field hockey game at Miami (Ohio) on Thursday afternoon.
The game was the first of a three-game midwest roadtrip for UC Davis which fell to 2-3. The Hoosiers, who received votes this week for the Kookaburra/NFHCA top 20 poll, improved to 5-2.
Junior Marissa Hughes scored the Aggies' lone goal, bringing them to within 3-1 in the 65th minute.
"I'm very proud of the Aggies," said head coach Vianney Campos. "Regardless of the score, we improved in numerous areas and really executed our gameday goals against Indiana.
"The team did a great job of sustaining quality pressure on their backfield which created numerous offensive opportunities that we just didn't capitalize on," she added. "Against high-level teams we must excute."
Indiana edged UC Davis 1-0 last season and that was the score for much of the first half after Heilman went into the circle and put a shot into the left side of the cage in the sixth minute.
The Aggies increased the offensive pressure by taking four consecutive shots 10 minutes later, three of them by Lydia Brambila, but were not able to tie the game. Goalie Maggie Olson had saves on the final two tries. UC Davis had eight shots in the first half.
Indiana gained a little breathing room when Nicole Volgraf scored the eventual game-winning goal from close less than two minutes into the second half. Heiman's second goal, coming off a rebound from her shot that was saved by Lauren Sawvelle, made it 3-0 in the 44th minute.
UC Davis applied more pressure on the offensive end with 10 minutes remaining, taking three straight shots before Hughes took Kristen Lopez's pass to the front of the circle and scored her first goal of the season. It also gave Lopez her team-best fourth assist.
The Aggies put up two more shots just two mintues later, one which was blocked and the other which went wide, before Volgraf scored on a breakaway with just under three minutes to go.
Indiana outshot UC Davis 29-17, including 16-5 for shots on goal. UC Davis had six penalty corner opportunities, two more than the Hoosiers. Sawvelle, who played nearly 60 minutes, had a season-high 12 saves. Olson had four for Indiana.
"Our goal is to play against our next two opponents with the stability (we had today) and I think we will find ourselves on the other side of the scoreboard," she said.
UC Davis will continue its roadtrip on Saturday when it faces William & Mary beginning at noon (Pacific). That game will also be played at Miami.
