Field Hockey Faces Ohio State In Big Ten Tournament
11/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 3, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Spartan field hockey team finished the regular season with an overall record of 12-7, 2-4 in conference play, earning a sixth seed in this weekend's Big Ten Tournament, hosted by the University of Iowa. Michigan State will face third-seeded Ohio State (14-5, 3-3) on Friday at 3 p.m., central time. State defeated the Buckeyes in the regular season match-up on Oct. 29 in East Lansing, 3-2.
In the first meeting between the two schools, Ohio State opened the scoring just 1:54 into the game, when Sasika Mueller struck unassisted. The Spartans answered quickly however, rattling off three first-half goals. Sophomore Amy Schneider tallied her first collegiate goal at 4:43 evening the score. Senior Michelle Huynh-Ba gave State the lead and an insurance goal when she struck at 8:07 and again at 17:32. The Green and White defense held for 56 minutes before allowing the Buckeyes to score their second goal at 58:50, on a goal by Leticia Fragapane. Spartan goalie, senior Christina Kirkaldy made eight saves as State held on for the 3-2 win.
"We are going to have to better than we were," head coach Michele Madison stated. "They have a high-powered offense and have some of the leading scorers in the nation and the league. They are going to be ready and they know how we play now."
Ohio State's Lucy Clayton leads the Big Ten in shots (105) and goals (16), while ranking second in points (34) behind teammate Yesenia Luces with 38. On the year, Luces has recorded 16 assists and 11 goals. Completing the Buckeyes' triple threat is Sasika Mueller, who leads the conference in assists (17) and ranks third in points (33) behind Clayton and Luces. The OSU defense has given up just 30 goals this year, despite goal keeper Lindsay Williams owning the worst goals against average in the league (.630).
For Michigan State, Huynh-Ba leads the attack with 14 goals and 29 points, ranking third and sixth in the conference, respectively. Freshman Inge Kaars Sijpestijn comes in as the second leading scorer with eight goals and four assists, good for 20 points. Sipestijn also leads the Spartans in shots, averaging three per game. Senior Jessica Miller has a team-high eight assists on the year, ranking her third in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, senior Breanna Harpstead has tallied seven assists on the year, ranking her sixth in the conference.
Defensively for the Spartans, Kirkaldy has allowed only 31 goals this year, recording 90 saves. She ranks fourth in the league in both goals against average (1.55) and save percentage (.744). Kirkaldy has posted three shutouts in thus far.
"Huynh-Ba put a lot of pressure on their backfield with her speed and the defense played pretty well in the first game," Madison added. "They (the Spartan defense) kept Ohio State in forehand pressure and they didn't jump, so it was easier for Christina (Kirkaldy) to see where the ball was coming from. We are going to have to posses the ball better from the backfield - that is the key."
The winner of Friday's game will face the winner of the 10 a.m. No. 2 Indiana vs. No. 7 Northwestern game in the semifinal on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Both schools, Michigan State and Ohio State, are in must win situations in regards to keeping their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Top-seeded Penn State awaits the winner of the 12:30 p.m. match-up between No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 Iowa in Saturday's 11 a.m. semifinal game.
