Michigan State Field Hockey Set For Big Ten Tournament

Nov. 1, 2006

2006 Big Ten Bracket
Download Free Acrobat Reader

EAST LANSING, Mich.-Michigan State has earned the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will face the second-seeded Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Spartans defeated Indiana, 1-0, during the regular season in East Lansing. Indiana has compiled a 14-4 overall record (4-2 Big Ten).

Michigan State was named the sixth seed in the 2005 Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans were eliminated in the first round by the third-seeded Ohio State. Indiana, who was also named the two seed last year advanced the the championship game, but was defeated by Michigan, 3-0.

Finishing Up The Regular Season
MSU split its final weekend season play, coming away with a win over Ohio University (2-1), but dropping a double-overtime game to No. 5 Ohio State (4-3).

In the final two minutes of regulation against the No. 5 Buckeyes, Becky Manning tied up 3-3 to send the game into overtime. The game went into a second overtime period and 4:22 into that second overtime period Linda Haussener found Saskia Mueller to give OSU a 4-3 win.

On Sunday, MSU went up 2-1 late in the first half on a Megan Nimke goal, and earned the win with a scoreless second period and held on for the one-goal victory against Ohio University on Sunday. The Spartans conclude the regular season with a 7-11 overall record (1-5 Big Ten).

The Senior Class
All six Michigan State seniors began the game against Ohio University on Sunday, helping the Spartans to an early 2-0 lead. Senior Becky Bolen got the ball in play on an MSU penalty corner, passing to classmate Kristin Dunn who set up the shot for Geraldine Raynor. The goal at 3:33 was Raynor's fourth on a penalty shot this season.

With a 1-0 lead, the Spartans struck again at 12:01, with senior Megan Nimke taking a solid shot from the top corner of the circle, scoring the first goal of her career on a pass from Anne-Sophie van Rijswijk.