Field Hockey defeats No. 20 Stanford

Sept. 6, 2010

STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 7 Michigan State field hockey team (5-0) defeated No. 20 Stanford, 3-2, in the final game of their west coast trip. Sophomore midfielder Kristen Henn completed the weekend with four goals, including the two she scored today for the Spartans.

Henn put Michigan State on the board first at 22:04 after she received the ball at the top of the circle from senior back Joelle van Ierland and freshman midfielder Katherine Jamieson on a penalty corner. Hope Burke answered Henn's goal at 25:06 when she shot the ball from the middle of the circle and put it in the net past redshirt freshman goaltender, Molly Cassidy.

It was then senior midfielder Angela Pagura's turn to put one in for the Spartans. At 43:39, she gathered a loose ball and slid it in the right corner of the net. Kelsey Lloyd then tied it up for the Cardinal off a penalty corner.

With time winding down, the Spartans lined up to take their final penalty corner at 68:28. Henn connected on a shot that came from van Ierland and Jamieson again, to seal Michigan State's second victory over a ranked opponent this season.

"We are very happy with the outcome in the final game in a very tough California tour," said head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. "During today's game, we were up and down, but were fortunate enough to hang in there and have Kristen Henn finish the game off with two minutes left. We knew that Stanford would be a very tough opponent in our third game in four days, and we got the job done."

Michigan State's defense was kept busy against Stanford's persistent offense. Cassidy stayed strong for the Spartans, walking away from the game with 14 saves, with 12 coming in the second half. Stanford outshot MSU, 18-10 and also led them in corners, 10-3. All of Michigan State's goals came as a result from their three penalty corners.

"We are very pleased with the way we executed our corners - the three corners we had ended up winning us the game. We learned a lot out in California about ourselves, and we are looking forward to getting back and getting to work for our upcoming game against Providence," said van de Kerkhof.

The Spartans will return home and host Providence on Friday at 2 p.m. and No. 12 James Madison on Sunday at 12 p.m.