Michigan State University
Northwestern
Spartans Dominate First-Round Action At Big Ten Tournament
11/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 1, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 2 seed Michigan State Spartans started off strong in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, sending home No. 7 seed Northwestern, 4-1, on Thursday morning. MSU picks up its first win against Northwestern in Big Ten Tournament history, and has now outscored the Wildcats 8-1, in the two games this season.
Michigan State set the tone early, scoring in the ninth minute of the game. Freshman Amanda Huck brought the ball down the right side of the field, creating a two-on-one for MSU. Huck drew in the defense and centered the ball to mid-circle, opening up the net for a senior Kathryn Elenz-Martin to score. Elenz-Martin recorded her ninth goal of the year, while Huck picked up her third assist.
The Spartans scored their second goal of the game just over six minutes later when freshman Jantine Steinmetz knocked in an unassisted goal at 14:45. She scored her 14th goal of the season, receiving a pass on the left side of the net, spinning around her lone defender and firing the ball past Wildcat goalkeeper junior Emily Kyle. Senior Amy Schneider put the Spartans up 3-0 at 27:09, as she snuck through the defense and scored on a rebound at point-blank range. It was her fourth goal of the season.
Northwestern scored early in the second half at 51:13 .Sophomore Stephanie Fortson centered a pass through the Spartan defenders and junior Annie Bosslet knocked it past MSU goalkeeper Elissa Unger. The Spartans answered back quickly, with sophomore Floor Rijpma scoring an unassisted goal at 53:33 . She slapped a shot in the net from the right side 15 feet out, recording her 11th goal of the year. MSU clamped down on defense from there, holding the Wildcats scoreless the rest of the half .
"We came out very confident today. We executed our gameplan from the start and I think we really earned our 3-0 halftime lead," said head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. "We played a little more possession-type field hockey in the second half, but we were able to create a few opportunities, and added the goal at the end. It's great to get a win in the first round, and we look forward to playing tomorrow."
MSU, now 16-4 on the season, will face the winner of today's game between No. 3 seed Iowa and the No. 6 seed Indiana on Friday at 2 p.m.
