Field Hockey Opens up Conference Play Against Iowa

Sept. 23, 2010

Listen to Spartan Sports Podcasts:
Rolf | Jantine | Angela | Molly

EAST LANSING, Mich.-The No. 7 Michigan State field hockey team will open up Big Ten conference play this Friday against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Spartans, who captured the Big Ten Title in 2009, begin their quest to repeat as Conference champions at home at 3 p.m. MSU has just one contest on the weekend.

Last time out
The Spartans are now 8-1 on the season, after suffering their first loss last weekend on the road at Kent State. After falling to the Golden Flashes, 2-0, the Green and White rebounded to post a 6-1 victory over No. 11 Boston University.

Scoring Seniors
The Spartans have seen many of their senior leaders score this season. Senior forward Jantine Steinmetz had a five-point game against Boston University, where she recorded one goal and assisted on goals by classmate Camille Dagorn and freshmen Katherine Jamieson and Elizabeth Helffrich. Senior midfielder Amanda Huck also put one in for the Spartans against the Terriers. Senior midfield Sabine van den Assem had an assist over the weekend which now puts her at four goals and three assists for the season. Senior midfielder Angela Pagura has recorded four goals this season and fellow classmate Joelle van Ierland has scored twice and assisted six times in the first nine games.

Ranked Opponents
The Michigan State field hockey team is ranked No. 7 in the nation by the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll and ranked number 10 by womensfieldhockey.com. The Spartans will not face a ranked opponent this weekend, but are 4-0 against ranked opponents so far this season. MSU has posted wins over No. 10 Duke (1-0), No. 19 Stanford, (3-2), No. 12 James Madison (1-0) and No.13 Boston University, (6-1).

Goal Production
In the start of the season, the Spartans saw most of their goal production come off of penalty corner plays. In their 6-1 victory over Boston University, none of MSU's goals were tallied off of corners - the first victory this season in which the Spartans failed to convert a penalty corner. Against BU, six different players scored for the Green and White. Ten different Spartans have each recorded at least one goal since the start of the season, with Huck and Helffrich each recording their first tallies of the season against the Terriers.

Around the Big Ten
The Big Ten field hockey season will officially get underway on Friday with the three different conference matches taking place. In addition to the Spartans taking on the Hawkeyes in East Lansing, Ohio State will travel to face Northwestern and Indiana will play at Penn State. The Spartans currently sit atop the Big Ten Standings with a record of 8-1. Behind them is Ohio State, which is 6-2 on the season.

Scouting the Hawkeyes
Iowa comes into Friday's contest coming off of a 2-0 win over Ball State, which puts them at 2-5 on the season. They are 2-1 at home in Iowa City and 0-2 when they play on the road. In 2009, Iowa and MSU met twice, once in regular season play and again during the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans edged the Hawkeyes both times, 3-0 on the Hawkeyes' home turf in the regular season and 5-1 in the semifinals of the Tournament, which was held at MSU's Ralph Young Field. Jessica Barnett leads Iowa's offense with four goals and Kim Scraper and Becca Spengler follow her with two goals each.