Michigan State University
Virginia
Field Hockey Blanks No. 7 Virginia
9/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 10, 2011
OXFORD, Ohio - Capturing its first win of the season, the Michigan State field hockey team (1-4) downed No. 7 Virginia, 3-0. Redshirt goaltender Molly Cassidy recorded her first shutout of 2011 while freshman Abby Barker and juniors Adelle Lever and Elizabeth Helffrich all tallied their first goals of the season.
"The win today was a complete team effort," said head coach Helen Knull. "We prepared all week in practice to make adjustments from last weekend and then the girls did an outstanding job transferring those to the game. This was a huge win for the program and we set the standard for the season today. It was a complete team effort, the energy from all 21 players and five members of staff was a huge difference maker for us today. Now we have to move on and prepare for a tough game against Miami tomorrow."
Both Michigan State and Virginia remained scoreless during most of the first half. The Spartans got the ball rolling at 27:13 when Barker dodged a defender in the middle of the circle and scored her first goal of her MSU career off of a pass from fellow freshman Jenni Smith.
With a little more than 30 seconds left in the half, Lever scored off of a shot from the top of the circle. Freshman Allie Ahern was credited with the assist. Nearing the end of the game, Helffrich collected the ball off of a pass from freshman Becky Stiles to secure MSU's 3-0 victory.
In Cassidy's first shutout of the season, the goaltender recorded a total of five saves. The Spartans held a slight edge in shots, 9-8, and were even in corners with Virginia, 4-4.
The Spartans return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. against Miami of Ohio.
