Aug. 25, 2007

Box Score

Berkeley, Calif. - The Pacific Field Hockey squad opened the 2007 season with an impressive performance in a 2-1 loss to No. 16 Indiana on Saturday, Aug. 25.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-1 on the season, while Indiana moved to 1-0.

The first game for both teams featured early jitters, but both the Tigers and the Hoosiers seemed to settle into a rhythm as the game moved into the middle of the half.

The Tigers earned the first scoring opportunity with about 18 minutes remaining in the first half as the Tigers earned back-to-back corner plays. Following the first corner, the Tigers appeared to have taken a 1-0 lead as senior Katie Fixsen (Vista, Calif.) followed her own shot to slap the ball into the net. The official, however, ruled that a defensive penalty occurred before Fixen fired her second shot. That meant the Tigers received a penalty corner, but the rest of the play was ruled dead.

Unfortunately the Tigers could not capitalize again in the first half, but Pacific's defense thwarted three corners for the Hoosiers and the game remained scoreless at the half.

In the second period, the 16th ranked Hoosiers increased their aggressiveness, putting more pressure on the Tigers' defense.

The result was consecutive goals for Indiana as the Hoosiers netted goals in the 43rd and 53rd minutes of the contest to build a 2-0 lead.

Just under 10 minutes later, Pacific responded with their first goal of the season as junior Erica Nestle (San Jose, Calif.) worked her way into a one-on-one situation with Indiana goalie Haley Exner. Nestle beat Exner to the right side of the net to make it a 2-1 game with just over seven minutes to play.

The Tigers, however, could not come up with the equalizer down the stretch.

Pacific was outshot by Indiana, 9-4, in the contest.

Pacific will be back in action on Sunday, Aug. 26 as the Tigers host Boston College at Stanford. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.