Michigan State University
Northeastern
Field Hockey Downs Northeastern For Third Consecutive Win
9/3/1999 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 3, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State field hockey team won its third consecutive game Friday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Northeastern. Sophomore Sanne van Nouhuys (Bilthoven, Netherlands) scored two goals in a game for the second time in three contests to lead MSU, which has won three straight for the first time since 1997.
?We said this was going to be one of our most important games, and we meant it,? said Spartan head coach Michele Madison. ?This was a big win. Northeastern is always a great team and this lets us know where we are as we look toward our goal of competing for the Big Ten title.?
Michigan State opened the scoring with an unassisted goal by van Nouhuys at the 26:11 mark of the first half. The game remained scoreless until the 16:59 mark of the second half, when Northeastern pulled even on an unassisted goal by senior Heidi Benson.
The Spartans took the lead for good when sophomore Maureen Halstead (N. Dartmouth, Mass.) converted a perfect crossing pass from sophomore Bridget Cooper (Winnetka, Ill.) on a two-on-one breakaway for the eventual game-winner. The goal was the second of the season for Halstead.
?I was pretty confident I would score on the play,? said Halstead. ?We work on that situation all the time in practice, so I just had to tip it in. Our offense has improved so much from last year now that we have five strong forwards and that gives us a lot of confidence on offense.?
van Nouhuys finished the scoring with 21 seconds remaining in the game, netting her second unassisted goal of the contest. She leads the team with five goals and 10 points.
MSU returns to action Saturday, Sept. 11 when it takes on North Carolina at 1:30 p.m., in the Temple Invitational.
1st Half 2nd Half Final Michigan State 1 2 3 Northeastern 0 1 1
Scoring Summary Michigan State Sanne van Nouhuys (unassisted) 26:11/1st Northeastern Heidi Benson (unassisted) 31:13/2nd Michigan State Maureen Halstead (Bridget Cooper) 16:59/2nd Michigan State Sanne van Nouhuys (unassisted) :21/2nd
Defensive Saves: MSU (none), Northeastern (none) Saves: MSU (Mirielle Evans-4), Northeastern (Emily Roy-7) Shots: MSU-16, Northeastern-7 Penalty Corners: MSU-7, Northeastern-1
