Michigan State University
Miami (Ohio)
Field Hockey Downs Miami (Ohio), 5-1
9/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 19, 2008
OXFORD, Ohio -
The 10th-ranked field hockey team recorded its third straight win, a 5-1 victory over Miami (Ohio) Friday. Freshman Chantae Miller (East Amherst, N.Y.) led the team with five points, two of which were goals, and junior Floor Rijpma (Bunnik, Netherlands) had two goals in the game. The Spartans scored four of their five goals off the 10 penalty corners they were awarded in the game.
Junior Jeamie Deacon (Wexford, Ireland) started the scoring three minutes in, with a tally off a penalty corner assisted by Joelle van Ierland (Den Dolder, Netherlands). The Red Hawks tied the score at 16:11 with a goal from junior Maggie Marcum, assisted by classmate Mary Hull. The Spartans responded at 23:50 with a goal from Rijpma, with an assist to Miller, off a penalty corner. Michigan State recorded another penalty corner two minutes later and capitalized, with Miller scoring her first of the game and senior Geraldine Raynor (Maronoera, Zimbabwe) assisting.
Rijpma recorded her second goal of the game at 50:32 with an assist from senior Gwen Riley (Louisville, Ky.). The goal was the fourth straight tally off a penalty corner for the Spartans. Miller picked up her second goal of the game less than 30 seconds later, scoring off a left side pass from sophomore Jantine Steinmetz (Amstelveen, Netherlands).
The Spartans outshot the Red Hawks, 20-10, and junior goalkeeper Elissa Unger (Reading, Pa.) made six saves, including four in the second half. She has a 1.43 goals against average and .722 save percentage this season. Rijpma and Miller moved into a tie for the team lead in scoring, each with five goals and two assists for 12 points.
"My compliments to our squad for a great team performance again," said head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. "Miami presented many challenges. The team did a great job executing the game plan, and it was good to see our corner unit was on today."
The Spartans wrap up play at the September Showcase on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a game against Pacific in Oxford, Ohio.
