Michigan State University
Northwestern
No. 9 Northwestern Holds Off Spartans
10/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
"We came out flat and that is the bottom line," said assistant coach Molly Pelowski. "We weren't playing Spartan hockey and then hit the panic button for the first 35 minutes. The girls showed a lot of character coming back in the second half. We started moving the ball. We had our heads down the first half and we have to play team hockey."
The Spartans drew a penalty corner early in the game, looking to jump out front on the ninth-ranked Wildcats. Northwestern forced a turnover, generating a counter attack that lead to a goal that put the Cats up 1-0 in the fourth minute. Northwestern would tack on two more before the half to take a commanding 3-0 lead into the break.
MSU made things interesting midway through the second half with a pair of quick goals from Alli Helwig and Kristin Matula. Helwig gathered a rebound off an Abby Barker shot that she put home, getting the Spartans on the board. Less than two minutes later, Matula redirected a shot from Jenni Smith off of a penalty corner to bring the game to 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining.
After the quick goals forced a Northwestern timeout, the Wildcats came back out and stifled the Spartan comeback by adding two more goals and controlling possession for much of the game's closing minutes.
"We were having difficulty passing the ball," said Pelowski. "Northwestern is a good team who is sitting at the top of the conference. We knew they were going to come out after their timeout with their foot on the gas. When you are down, you are going to make mistakes trying to come back. We were fighting and trying, but just couldn't string together passes."
"Moving forward, we have to stay focused on what we need to do to win. It is about execution of our game plan. We have to trust each other, pass, and execute."
The Spartans head to Ann Arbor to take on in-state rival Michigan on Friday in a game that will be featured live on Big Ten Network at 3:30. On Sunday, MSU will play host to Central Michigan at 12 p.m.
