Michigan State University
Delaware
Spartans Sink Delaware, 7-2
8/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 29, 2009
Durham, NC -- - Fueled by a second-half hat trick by freshman Manouk Vernij, Michigan State opened the 2009 season with a convincing 7-2 victory over Delaware on Saturday at the Champions Invitational, hosted by Duke University. The Spartans will now advance to play the host Blue Devils on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
"It was nice to get the season underway," admitted head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof, who's team had been on campus nearly two weeks for training before the season-opening tournament. I think we needed some time early to get into our groove, and we saw that we allowed that early goal because we didn't pick up the play. Then we started fighting back, made some technical changes, and it resulted in some quick goals."
MSU dominated on the scoreboard, but also on the stat sheet. The Spartans outshot the Blue Hens by a 24-8 margin, and had six penalty corners to Delaware's three. Elissa Unger made four saves for the Spartans to pick up her first victory of the year.
Vernij scored three of MSU's four goals in the second half to record her first collegiate goal - and hat trick.
"She really is a great addition for us," pointed out the head coach. "She is a great player, and if she gets possession of the ball, she allows us to set up our attack. For her, its great to score some goals to gain some confidence - and her teammates can gain confidence in her and know that they can rely on her."
Delaware actually struck first in the contest, getting on the board with a Casey Howard tally just 5:25 into the game. Chantae Miller tied the score for the Spartans at the 20:45 mark, off a feed from Floor Rijpma. Jantine Steinmetz gave MSU a 2-1 advantage about five minutes later, and the Spartans took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
Jeamie Deacon opened the scoring early in the second half with a penalty stroke at 36:58. Vernij got on the scoreboard with her first collegiate tally at 41:03off an assist from Angela Pagura. She scored her second at 47:11, and completed the hat trick with her third goal at 58:03. The natural hat trick was broken up by a Julie Mackay tally (Angie Lucik assist) at 50:19 to round out the scoring on the afternoon for the Spartans.
The Blue Hens cut the score to 7-2 at 63:28 by converting on a penalty corner, but got no further in the final minutes.
"Once we got those quick goals, we opened it up a bit," noted Van de Kerkhof. "We had the opportunity to get our bench players in, which will help them, too. It was great to open the season with a win, and get some experience for all of our players.
The Spartans will take on host Duke in the championship game on Sunday, which will be played at 1:30 p.m.
