INDIANAPOLIS – The U.S. field hockey team hasn't won in six games. That's just fine by them.

Its 2-2 draw with the world's top-ranked team convinced coach Lee Bodimeade that his team is ready for the Olympics in Beijing.

“The results, oddly enough, are quite encouraging,” he said. “To come out with a 2-2 tie with the No. 1-ranked Dutch side in our final game actually showed that when we do put our best game on the field, we can compete against the best teams.”

The 11th-ranked United States has qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 1996. Medaling for the first time since 1984 looked like a strong possibility during a dominant April in which the U.S. went 8-1 against teams ranked in the world's top 25 and outscored them 36-8.

July hasn't been so kind. The U.S. had a 5-3 loss to No. 10 South Korea, a 1-1 draw against No. 13 India and a 7-2 loss to No. 3 Germany in the Four Nations tournament.

The loss to the defending Olympic champion Germans on July 6 was particularly tough, but Bodimeade noted that those matches provided the first major action for the team after final roster selections were made on June 23.

He also said the tournament was more about conditioning and playing top-notch competition than about wins and losses.

“We were in a heavy training phase in Germany with the running and still doing our weights program on the mornings on which we would play games.”

After the Four Nations tournament, the U.S. lost its first two games in the three-game series with the Netherlands 2-0 and 4-0 before recovering to earn the draw on July 12.

Bodimeade acknowledged that after the losses in Germany, he had to remind the players that the focus was on getting them into top shape, and not necessarily results.

The Americans started April by beating Argentina, ranked No. 2 in the world at the time, in three out of four matches from April 1-6. Later that month, the U.S. won its Olympic qualifier in Kazan, Russia.

Even with the struggles, Bodimeade said the team feels good, in part because of college player of the year Rachel Dawson. The North Carolina star is a top-notch defender who recently was a finalist for the ESPY Award for best female college athlete. She was named player of the tournament at the Olympic qualifier.

“Rachel fuels what we consider to be a part of what we consider to be one of our real strengths, and that's our defensive unit,” Bodimeade said. “She brings a real aggressive, winner's mentality to the group. It's one of the real characteristics of Rachel Dawson. That with an obvious high level of ability in being able to tackle and distribute from the backfield.”

The team will approach its final stretch before the Olympics by conducting several intrasquad scrimmages. The team will arrive in Beijing on Aug. 3, and is trying to set up a friendly against No. 7 Spain the next day and another against No. 10 Korea on Aug. 7 before opening Olympic play against No. 2 Argentina on Aug. 10.

Bodimeade expects the experience to be exciting for the entire squad.

“The beauty of this team is it's the first Olympics for every single one of them,” he said. “With that comes a real raw enthusiasm, regardless of age or the number of internationals.”