Michigan State University
New Hampshire
Field Hockey Cruises Past New Hampshire 6-1
9/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 14, 2008
DURHAM, N.H. -
Michigan State's 10th-ranked field hockey team notched a 6-1 win over New Hampshire on Sunday. The Spartans tallied a season-high 36 shots, and six different players tallied goals in the game as MSU improved to 5-1 on the season.
Junior Angela Pagura (Columbus, Ohio) started the scoring at 21:07 into the game. Classmate Floor Rijpma (Bunnik, Netherlands) made a left center pass to Pagura, who was out in front for the tip. MSU held a 1-0 lead at the half, but scored five consecutive goals after the intermission. Rijpma began the second half with an unassisted tally at 41:56, a low shot to the far post from the top right of the circle. Senior Michelle Ciliberti (Louisville, Ky.) recorded her second goal of the season, with an assist to sophomore Julie Mackay (Houston, Texas) at 53:43, and Jantine Steinmetz (Amstelveen, Netherlands) recorded an unassisted goal just 59 seconds later. Junior Jeamie Deacon (Wexford, Ireland) set up freshman Chantae Miller (East Amherst, N.Y.) for her third goal of the season at 59:10, then recorded her own unassisted tally exactly five minutes later off a penalty corner. New Hampshire scored their only goal with under a minute to play, off a diving sweep by Whitney Frates.
Michigan State outshot its opponent 36-6, including 21 shots in the second half. The Spartans also recorded 11 penalty corners in the game.
"It was nice to see different players putting the ball into the net for the Spartans," said head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. "The team continues to improve in communication on the field, resulting in great defensive play as well as creating scoring opportunities that we capitalized on."
Junior Elissa Unger (Reading, Pa.) made four saves in goal for her fifth win of the season. She recorded a .917 save percentage on the weekend, recorded her first shutout of the season in yesterday's 2-0 win over Boston University, and allowed one goal in 140 minutes of play. Goalkeeper Jenna Lehman made 15 saves in goal for New Hampshire.
Michigan State travels to Miami (Ohio) next weekend for the Miami September Showcase. The Spartans face the host Red Hawks on Friday, Sept. 19 at 3 p.m., and Pacific on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m.
