BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Career records fell and young players turned an early season corner at the 2018 Hoosier Invitational as No. 12-ranked Indiana University beat No. 25 Iona College, 17-8, before stifling McKendree University, 14-3, to close out the Hoosier Invitational at home in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
“I thought they did a really good job representing IU at home,” said Indiana head coach Ryan Castle on the team’s Bloomington defense. “We fought hard in the games and we definitely worked our butts off to represent IU, so I’m proud of them. As we get used to playing at home a bit more, we’re definitely going to make this a challenging place for anybody to come play us.”
Sophomore Megan Abarta led Sunday’s goal tally with seven between the double-header. Abarta etched her first career hat trick against the Gaels (0-3) and finished with four scores, setting a new personal career high. Finishing in a tie for third among all Hoosier Invite scorers, Abarta found another hat trick versus McKendree.
“What we’ve seen from her every day in practice is what we’re getting from her in games,” Castle commented on Abarta, Indiana’s leading scorer on the weekend. “She definitely adds a lot on defense and is so composed. She’s a great kid.”
Kelly Matthews joined the goal party with four goals in Sunday’s opening half, recording her 37th career hat trick in the first three minutes to keep Indiana tied with Iona. Karrie Kozokar scored her sixth all-time hat trick, finding all three in the fourth quarter against Iona, and followed with two goals and one assist to build a 9-1 lead over McKendree in the first half.
The Hoosiers continued playing clinically on their defensive end, forcing 23 steals in the doubleheader. Six of those went to Sarah Myers, who set a new career high in just the one half against the Bearcats.
The wins completed an undefeated weekend, their first at home this season, and saw many underclassmen step up in their extended minutes. Freshman Jennifer Hanling added two goals and two assists, both career highs, against McKendree, while Juli Hilovsky scored twice in one game and swiped a team-leading three steals in another. Emily Powell provided her first multi-goal game with two scores.
“In every game, I see what I want to see along with what I don’t want to see,” Castle said. “There were aspects that we executed and some that we definitely need to work on, in all four games over the weekend.”
Release courtesy Indiana University Athletics Communications
