Michigan State University
Virginia
Spartans drop OT Heartbreaker to Virginia, 3-2
11/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 15, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- Despite receiving a season-high 11 saves from senior goalkeeper Elissa Unger (Reading, Pa.), the Michigan State field hockey team dropped a heartbreaker to Virginia in overtime, 3-2. The loss ends the Spartans' season a round shy of the Final Four for the second consecutive season.
Virginia came out strong to start the first half getting a goal nine minutes in from Paige Selenski. The Spartans were able to answer at the 14:47 mark when sophomore Chantae Miller (East Amherst, N.Y.) tipped a pass from freshman Manouk Vernij (Bleiswijk, Netherlands) into the back of the cage knotting the score at 1. Virginia scored again just before the half when Traci Ragukas tipped a pass past a diving Unger to give the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead entering halftime.
The Spartans came out strong to start the second and got the equalizer less than five minutes in when junior Jantine Steinmetz (Amstelveen, Netherlands) blasted a shot from the right side of the circle past a diving Virginia netminder. The Spartans and Cavaliers exchanged scoring chances throughout the remainder of the second half but both keepers proved to be up to the challenge forcing sudden death overtime.
Virginia started the overtime with a player advantage due to a yellow card called on Vernij three minutes to prior to the start of the extra frame. The Cavaliers took full advantage when Selenski added her second of the game 1:52 into the overtime period.
The loss ends a special season for the Spartans. The Spartans finished Big Ten play undefeated en route to winning their first ever outright Big Ten Regular Season Championship. The Spartans also won the Big Ten Tournament for the third time in school history becoming just the second team in Big Ten history to finish the regular season undefeated and win the Big Ten Tournament.
