OXFORD, Ohio – The Bellarmine University field hockey team begins play in the Mid-American Conference at seven-time defending champion Miami (OH) this Friday at 1 p.m. ET.
 
Bellarmine (0-6) will be looking for their first win of the season, their first win under head coach Toby Platt and their first win over the RedHawks.
 
About Miami (OH)
Miami (3–2) dominated three straight opponents at the Miami Field Hockey Complex to start the year, notching convincing wins over UC Davis (4–0) and Saint Francis (6–1), both early-season foes of Bellarmine, as well as New Hampshire (4–1). The RedHawks then tested themselves against national powers, falling to No. 15 Iowa (3-1) and top-ranked Northwestern (5-1) in a pair of neutral site matchups at Trager Stadium last weekend.
 
Freshman midfielder Malena Sabez leads the RedHawks with four goals and eight total points. Graduate back Berta Mata and junior middie Sloane Wearren, a product of Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, share the team lead in assists with four apiece, driving an attack that has produced 16 goals across five games. In the cage, Nicky Sjouken has played all 300 minutes this season, notching a .615 save percentage while posting a 2.00 goals-against average.
 
In his 15th year at the helm, head coach Iñako Puzo has posted a 174-126 (.580) overall record, plus an astounding 77-18 (.811) in MAC play.
 
In addition to Wearren, Miami features three other players who played in high school in or around Louisville: sophomore striker Avery Kuzmicky (North Oldham), sophomore middie MC Wolz (Sacred Heart) and senior back Izzy Hass (Assumption).
 
Bellarmine is 0-4 all-time against the RedHawks by a combined score of 18-3. Miami won 6-1 last season at Trager Stadium.
 
Newcomer Goals
Cami Paris became the first Knight this season to net her first career goal in Sunday's contest against Davidson. Last year, five Knights scored for the first time.
 
Corner Conversions
All four of Bellarmine's goals this season have come on penalty corners. The Knights, however, are 79th out of 83 teams in Division I in generating penalty corners, totaling 13 and averaging 2.17 per game. Bellarmine's opponents, on the other hand, have generated 48 penalty corners. Brooke Buchanan leads the team with three assists, all on penalty corner insertions.
 
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