No. 15 Field Hockey Wraps-Up Regular Season
10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 28, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State field hockey team will conclude its regular season this weekend, hosting Ohio State on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 11 a.m. and then Ohio University on Sunday, at 2 p.m. It will be the first time since Sept. 9 and 10 that MSU has had back-to-back games in East Lansing. Seniors Maggie Giddens, Christina Kirkaldy, Michelle Huynh-Ba, Breanna Harpstead and Jessica Miller will be honored in their final home game on Sunday afternoon.
"The challenge is always to focus 100 percent on Ohio State and then focus 100 percent on Ohio U.," said head coach Michele Madison. "With the parents, high schools, and the families here, there is a lot of stuff going on. We have been training hard for the back-to-back games; they have to know how to play through it and this is an opportunity to do it."
Ohio State enters the weekend's contest ranked eighth in the nation with an overall record of 14-4, 3-2 in Big Ten play. Much of the Buckeyes' success has come from their high-powered offense, which leads the conference in goals scored with 52. Leading the charge for OSU is the triple threat of Lucy Clayton, Yesenia Luces and Saskia Muller, all who have 30-plus point totals this season.
"Ohio State is dangerous," Madison commented. "They are very talented, player for player they are talented in a lot of positions. They are able to find each other on the field and I think the danger is that they find each other too often, too easily. We have to put the pressure on them and attack, attack, attack."
Ohio University is also pulling double-duty this weekend, facing Central Michigan on Saturday, before arriving in East Lansing on Sunday. The Bobcats enter the weekend with an overall record of 8-9.
"Ohio is always tough," Madison said. "They have a new coach, Neil Macmillan, the Wake Forest assistant coach, who came off three back-to-back National Championships. I think they will be different, skilled and will be able to move the ball around."
Torre Albini leads OU's offense with 11 goals and one assist, for a total of 23 points. Sisters Estienne and Rachelle Coetzee are the only other Bobcats with double-digit figures. Defensively, Ohio allows over two goals a game.
With the conclusion of the regular season, next on the schedule for the Spartans is the Big Ten Tournament in Iowa City, Iowa, Nov. 4-6.
