Michigan State University
Michigan
No. 5 Field Hockey Drops 1-0 Heartbreaker To Michigan
10/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 4, 2002
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 5 Michigan State field hockey team suffered its first loss in over a month at the hands of second-ranked Michigan on Friday, Oct. 4, at the Phyllis Ocker Field in Ann Arbor, Mich. Under strong winds and heavy rain, Michigan upended the Spartans, 1-0.
Michigan (10-1, 2-0 Big Ten) pressured the Spartans early in the match, drawing two penalty corners in the opening minutes. The Wolverines were unable to score and the momentum shifted to the Spartans, but they were also unable to find the back of the cage. The remainder of the opening half saw both teams trading offensive opportunities, but neither making a score.
Michigan State (10-2, 1-1 Big Ten) was forced to play a man down due to a yellow-card foul for ten minutes - spanning the end of the first period and the beginning of the second. Although UM had the extra attacker, strong Spartan ball-handling and defensive efforts kept the ball away from Michigan and the game continued with the scoreless play.
As the wind and rain increased in the second half, so did the scoring opportunities for each team. The Spartans had two chances rejected, while MSU netminder Christina Kirkaldy (Afton, N.Y.) made strong saves to keep the Wolverines at bay. Kirkaldy produced six saves on 10 Wolverine shots, including two diving saves in one-on-one situations.
Michigan finally found the back of the net in the 60th minute, as Molly Powers scored an unassisted goal from the left baseline into the right corner of the net. Although the Spartan offense pushed strong for the remaining time, they were unable to score, halting the program-best winning streak at ten.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday, Oct. 6, when they travel to Athens, Ohio to take on the Ohio Bobcats. The match-up between Michigan State and Ohio (4-5, 2-1 MAC) is slated for 1 p.m., at Pruitt Field.
Scoring Summary
1 2 FinalMSU 0 0 0MICH 0 1 0
Team Goal (Assist) Period TimeMICH Molly Powers (unassisted) 2 59:34
