Sept. 27, 2012

East Lansing, Mich. -The No. 22 Michigan State field hockey team returns to Ralph Young Field for Big Ten play on Friday, Sept. 28 against Indiana at 3 p.m. followed by a matchup on Monday against Pacific at noon.  The Spartans enter the weekend 5-5 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten.

Reflections on Last Weekend

MSU dropped two games last weekend, at home No. 13 Iowa, (1-0) and on the road at No. 19 Duke, 4-2.

The Last Meeting Michigan State 2 Indiana 4 October 9, 2011 Bloomington, Ind. Field Hockey Drops 4-2 Decision to No. 15 Indiana Despite freshman Abby Barker's two-goal performance, the Michigan State field hockey team was topped on the road by No. 15 Indiana, 4-2. Barker extended her goal-scoring streak to three games,and has accounted for five of the Spartans' six goals scored in the past four games. The loss moves the Spartans to 0-3 in Big Ten play and 6-9 overall. Recap | Box Score

The Last Meeting Michigan State 10 Pacific 0 September 4, 2010 Stanford, Calif. Field Hockey Topples Pacific In their second game of a west-coast road trip, the Michigan State field hockey team shut out Pacific, 10-0 in a neutral-site match. The Spartans continue their undefeated streak to start the season, and improve to 4-0. Eight different players scored for the Spartans, including sophomore midfielder Kristen Henn and sophomore forward Jessica Lindner, who knocked in two tallies each. Recap | Box Score

Michigan State’s game against the Hawkeyes was the Spartans’ first Big Ten contest of the season.  The Spartan back line was on its game, as the Hawkeyes outshot MSU, 18-7 – yet the lone goal of the day for Iowa came in the 38^th minute from Jessica Barnett off a penalty corner.  Midfielder Alli Helwig tallied her third defensive save of both the season and her career, and redshirt junior Molly Cassidy recorded eight saves. 

In the matchup at Duke, Heather Howie scored her fourth goal of the season three minutes into the game, off an assist from Abby Barker.  The Blue Devils then tied up the score at 18:44 on a deflection.  Barker put MSU back in the lead in the 23^rd minute when she put back a rebounded off a save.  Duke then rallied to score three goals in a seven-minute span take a commanding lead, and held on for the win.  Cassidy saved eight shots for the second straight game.  

Interest in Indiana

Indiana enters the weekend 0-1 in Big Ten play and 6-2 overall.  Last weekend, the Hoosiers opened Big Ten play with a 71- loss to Penn State, then rebounded with a 2-1 win over Lock Haven.

Morgan Fleetwood leads Indiana with six goals and four assists (16 points).  Audra Heilman, Mariella Grote, and Nicole Volgraf have each scored three each this season.  Heilman is tied with Fleetwood with four assists at four (10 points), and Grote is third in scoring overall with three assists and nine points.  In the cage for the Hoosiers are Viki Green and Maggie Olson.  Green’s record in goal is 5-0 with a .688 save percentage and 2.70 GAA.  Olson owns a .700 save percentage and 1.88 GAA, with a 1-2 record.

MSU leads in the all-time series with Indiana, 16-3.  The Spartans and Hoosiers last played at Ralph Young Field in 2010, a 2-0 shutout win for MSU.  Last season in Bloomington, the Hoosiers won a 4-2 contest.  Barker scored both Spartan goals in the matchup, while Cassidy recorded five saves.

Plotting against Pacific  
The University of the Pacific enters the weekend with a 3-6 record.  The Tigers most recent game was a heartbreaking overtime loss to UC Davis, 4-3 last Sunday.  Pacific will play at Michigan on Friday and take on Central Michigan in a neutral-site game at Ralph Young Field on Sunday before their Monday game against the Spartans.

Leading the Tigers in scoring are Paige Counsman and Emily Tregoning, each with 10 points.  Counsman has four goals and two assists, while Tregoning has tallied three goals and four assists.  With nine points each are Melissa Maultsby, (4g, 1a)  and Jenna Vivian, who has assisted on three goals while scoring three of her own as well. 

Maggie Corder and Molly Macierz have seen the most time in goal.  Corder is 3-1 on the season, with a .688 save percentage and 2.90 GAA.  Macierz has a .667 save percentage and 5.00 GAA with a 0-4 record.

Michigan State leads the series with Pacific 7-1.  They last met in 2010, a 10-0 shutout win for the Spartans. 

Scoring Spartans

Leading the Spartans in scoring are Abby Barker and Heather Howie.  Barker has tallied eight goals and one assist this season (17 points),  while  Howie has scored four goals this season and one assist (nine points).  Three of Howies goals have come in the last four games. 

Goaltender Molly Cassidy owns a .816 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average.

MSU in Rankings

Michigan State fell to No. 22 in the 2012 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I National Coaches Poll on Sept. 25.  The Spartans were ranked No. 15 last week. 

Big Ten Hot Shots

Sophomore midfielder Alli Helwig ranks second in the Big Ten in defensive saves with three, behind Michigan’s Leslie Smith (4).

Abby Barker is titled seventh in the Big Ten in both goals (eight),  and goals per game (.80). 

Goaltender Molly Cassidy leads the Big Ten in saves (71) and saves per game (7.10).  Cassidy ranks second in save percentage at (.816).  

MSU Coaching Staff

Helen Knull is in her second season as head coach and her seventh season on the coaching staff at MSU.  Knull served as an assistant and associate head coach at Kent State 2003-2005 after she competed for the Golden Flashes as a four-year starter.  She was named All-American in 2001 and 2002, and was team captain in 2002.

Molly Maloney enters her fifth year as an assistant coach, and she works extensively with the team’s goalkeepers.  Maloney served as the graduate assistant coach at Central Michigan University before coming to Michigan State.  Maloney was a four-year letterwinner at Michigan and helped the team to the 2001 NCAA Championship.  She holds the record at Michigan for most shutouts in a season, (9).

This is the second year for Shawn Hindy as an assistant coach at Michigan State.  He was formerly head coach at Leighton Area High School (2006-2010) and the US Women's National Indoor Team (2007-2010).  Hindy also was a member of the US Men's National Team from 1995-2007 and three-time Male United States Field Hockey Player of the Year (2000, 2002, 2004).  Hindy still partakes in field hockey as a member of the Men's National Indoor Team.

MSU on BTN

The Big Ten Network is scheduled to televise more field hockey games than ever before.  Six games will be televised this season as well as the Big Ten Tournament.  Michigan State will appear on the Network during its game at the University of Michigan on Friday, Oct. 12, at 3 p.m. 

Next Up

Michigan State hits the road to face Ohio State on Friday, Oct. 5, and Ohio on Sunday, Oct. 7.