Nov. 9, 2007

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NCAA Tournament

Michigan State will play the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday Nov. 10. With a 16-5 overall record, Michigan State was one of eight teams to earn an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament field. Host Michigan will take on Ohio in the first round on Saturday at 2 p.m., immediately following the MSU-Wake Forest game, which begins at 11 a.m. The winners will meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Ann Arbor.

NCAA Tournament History

MSU is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA tournament, while recording a 6-4 record in its tournament history. MSU has made the tournament in five of the last seven seasons, including four straight years, from 2001-2004. MSU has made the Final Four twice, losing in the semifinals to Wake Forest in 2002, and to Duke in 2004. MSU was ousted in the second round in 2001 and 2003 by intrastate rival Michigan.

MSU is 4-0 in NCAA Tournament first-round games.

Represent

Four teams represent the Big Ten Conference in this year's tournament. In this week's poll, four Big Ten teams are ranked within the top-10. Iowa and Michigan occupy the six and seven spots, respectively. Michigan State falls a spot from last week and sits at No. 8, while Penn State stays at No. 9. All four teams have been in the top 10 in the weekly poll since Sept. 25.

Fifth-ranked Iowa is in the Storrs Region, hosted by the University of Connecticut. Iowa faces against No. 11 Boston University in the first round at 1 p.m., on Saturday. Iowa is 7-0 in the series history versus BU.

Penn State will play Virginia in the opening round. The Nittany Lions are 10-3 all-time against Virginia, but 0-1 in post-season play. Penn State beat Virginia in its third game of the season, dropping the Cavaliers 3-1. Penn State's first round matchup is hosted by the University of Maryland.

The University of Michigan kicks off the tournament against Ohio on Saturday at 2 p.m., as it hosts the first and second rounds of the tournament.The Wolverines are 7-0 against the Bobcats all-time.

Familiar Faces

MSU and Wake Forest met earlier this season, on Sept. 30, in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Demon Deacons sent the Spartans to one of their five losses on the season, defeating Michigan State, 2-0.

All-Time Series

MSU is 1-6 against Wake Forst all-time, and has lost six straight to the Demon Deacons. The Spartans have been outscored 4-18 in those contests, and been shut out in five of seven games, including the last three meetings. The lone post-season meeting between MSU and Wake Forest came in the 2002 Final Four, a 3-0 Demon Deacon win. Wake Forest went on to win the title that year, defeating Penn State 2-0.

Wake Forest - NCAA Tournament History

Wake Forest has advanced to the Final Four every year since 2001. It has posted a 22-4 record all-time in NCAA Tournament play, and has been selected to `The Dance' nine times. The Demon Deacons have played for the championship in four of the last five seasons, and ripped off three straight championships between 2002-2004. They lost in the Final Four in 2001 and 2005, and were ousted by Maryland last year in the championship game. Wake Forest has won the NCAA Tournament three of the four years MSU has participated.

Don't I Know You?

The Spartans have faced each team in the Ann Arbor regional at least once this past season. MSU beat Ohio on Aug. 26, 3-2 in overtime, but fell to both Michigan (2-1, OT) and Wake Forest (2-0).

MSU has been ousted by rival Michigan in two of its four trips to the NCAA Tournament (2001, 2003). The Spartans are have split the all-time post-season series with the Wolverines, 2-2. They are 1-0 against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament, and 1-2 in the NCAA Tournament.

Against the Field

MSU has gone 4-4 against the NCAA Tournament field during the 2007 season. The Spartans recorded victories over Ohio, Boston University, Penn State, and in the regular season against Iowa. The losses came against Connecticut, Michigan, Wake Forest, and Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament.

Bring The Magic Back

The last time MSU started off the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., was in 2004. MSU took out Louisville 2-0 in the first round, and pulled out a 3-2 victory against rival Michigan in the second round. MSU lost to Duke in the NCAA semifinals, 5-2.

Wake Forest Scouting Report

Wake Forest has played its way to a 14-5 record on the season, and went 3-2 in ACC play. All five of Wake Forest's losses have been to top-10 opponents, including losses to Iowa (No. 10), Maryland (No. 2), and two losses to No. 1 North Carolina. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 3 when they defeated the Demon Deacons, 2-1 in overtime, in the first meeting of the season on Aug. 31.

The Demon Deacons are led by Michelle Kasold who has a team-high 12 assists and 26 points, while tying for third on the team with seven goals. Kasold was the star in the first meeting of the season between Wake Forest and MSU, recording a goal and an assists in the Wake Forest victory.

Junior Crystal Duffield has seen most of the minutes in the net for Wake Forest this season. She has recorded a 2.38 goals against average and a .659 save percentage.

Last Week's Action

MSU defeated the Northwestern Wildcats, 4-1, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. MSU was unable to advance past the semifinals, falling 3-2 in overtime to the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa went on to defeat conference regular-season champion Michigan in the championship game, 4-1.

The Spartan Scouting Report

The Spartans finished the regular season ranked second in the nation in scoring, behind No. 1 North Carolina. MSU scored 81 goals in 19 games, averaging 4.26 goals per game. MSU finished second in the NCAA, behind the Tar Heels, in almost every major offensive category, including scoring average (4.21), scoring margin (3.07), assists per game (3.21) and points per game (11.74).

Jeamie Deacon has led the offensive charge for MSU in 2007. She leads the team with 32 points, on 12 goals and eight assists, while starting 19 of 20 games.

Sophomore Floor Rijpma has come on of late, scoring five goals and adding two assists in MSU's last seven games. She ranks second on the team with 31 points, is tied for third with 12 goals, and is fourth in assists with seven. Rijpma has played in all 21 games this season, starting 20 of those contests.

Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jantine Steinmetz has been a strong addition to an already potent offense, leading the team with 14 goals on the season. She has added one assist on the year, ranking her fourth on the team with 29 total points.

Manning Up

Senior Becky Manning returned from injury for the last two games of the regular season, helping defeat the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes and adding a stellar performance against Kent State. Manning recorded seven points on three goals and one assist against the Golden Flashes.

She finished the season tied with teammate Jantine Steinmetz in goals (13), ranking ninth in the NCAA in goals per game (.81). Manning exploded on offense this season, more than doubling her six career goals in her first three seasons. She ranks third on the team in total points with 30 in 21 games, also doubling her prior three-year career total of 14. Despite missing time this season, Manning finished the regular-season tied for first in the Big Ten, and 19th in the NCAA in points per game (1.88).

Senior Leadership

All four MSU seniors have had a career year in points, assists and goals. In addition to Manning, Kathryn Elenz-Martin recorded 21 points on nine goals and three assists. Amy Schneider has scored four goals while recording a team-high 12 assists on the year, for a total of 20 points. Schneider sits tied for ninth in the MSU record books with Rayna Hiscox (1995) for assists in a single-season. Charolotte van de Laag is second on the team with 11 assists, recording 21 points and adding five goals.

Shut `Em Out

Michigan State's defense has shut out eight of its opponents this season. The total ranks second all-time in MSU history, with the record of 10 being set in 2002. The Spartans had back-to-back shutouts four different times this season, the most ever in a single-season since the 1975 team recorded eight straight shutouts to start the year.

Multiplicity

The Spartans have 13 multiple-goal efforts this season. Jantine Steinmetz has the most, recording four. She scored twice in a game three times, and three goals once. Senior Becky Manning had two three-goal games on the year, while Jeamie Deacon has twice posted two-goal efforts. Senior Kathryn Elenz-Martin scored two goals on three different occassions for MSU. Gwen Riley and Floor Rijpma each recorded one.

Sharing the Wealth

Michigan State had 14 different players credited with assists, and has recorded seven multiple-assist performances this season. Amy Schneider recorded two assists on two seperate occasions, and passed out three assists against St. Louis. Charolotte van der Laag has recorded two-assist games twice on the year, and Becky Manning and Jeamie Deacon have done it once. Against St. Louis on Sept. 9, MSU had three players recording multiple-assists: Schneider finished with three and Manning and van der Laag with two.

Defense Wins Championships

MSU has held its opponent to a goal or less in 15 of 21 games this season, and only gave up more than two goals in a game twice. The Spartans gave up three goals to No. 3 Connecticut in a 4-3 OT loss in mid-September, and three against Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament, again in overtime. losing 3-2.

Senior Amy Schneider has been the defense leader for the Spartans all season, collecting two Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards for her efforts. She has provided numbers on offense as well, leading the team with 12 assists, and adding four goals on only five shots.

Sophomore goalkeeper Elissa Unger has recorded six shutouts, started all 21 games, and has posted a 1.33 goals against average and a .714 save percentage.

The Big Stage

MSU has played eight games against ranked opponents in 2007, going 4-4 in those contests. Four of MSU's five losses have come to ranked teams, falling to No. 3 Connecticut, No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 6 Iowa.

Tight Squeeze

Four of the five losses on the season for the Spartans have been by a goal, with three out of five needing overtime. Wake Forest was the only team to defeat the Spartans by a larger margin, blanking MSU, 2-0, on Sept. 30.

Non-Conference Success

Over the past six seasons, MSU has record a 70-22 record against non-conference opponents. MSU has gone .500 or better in all six years: 18-1 in 2002, 12-3 in 2003, 13-3 in 2004, 10-4 in 2005, 7-7 in 2006, and 10-3 in 2007.

Streakin'

MSU had three multiple-game winning streaks this season, including a six-game streak to start the season, a three-game stretch in the middle, and a five-game streak to end the regular season. Michigan State's only back-to-back losses came Nov. 30 against No. 5 Wake Forest, and Oct. 5 versus No. 6 Michigan.

Bring Out The Awards

MSU freshman Jantine Steinmetz took home Freshman of the Year honors at the Big Ten Field Hockey Awards Banquet, held Thursday Nov. 1. Steinmetz was awarded two Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards this season.

Sophomore backfielder Jeamie Deacon earned first team All-Big Ten accolades. Deacon earned three Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards this season, the most ever in a single season in Spartan field hockey history.

Senior Amy Schneider and sophomore Floor Rijpma were awarded second-team All-Big Ten honors. Schneider has been the defensive leader for MSU, as she has earned two Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. Rijpma was strong on offense at the Big Ten Tournament for the Spartans, scoring two goals in two games.

Senior Becky Manning was awarded the Sportmanship Award at the banquet. The Sportsmanship Award is given to individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The student-athlete must be in good academic standing and demonstrate good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

MSU seniors Michelle Ciliberti and Charlotte van der Laag, and juniors Geraldine Raynor and Gwen Riley earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades. Honors are awarded for the 2006-07 academic school year.

Television Coverage

The NCAA Field Hockey championship game will be televised by CSTV at 12 p.m. ET, on Sunday, Nov. 18. The semifinal games will be webcasted at NCAA.org on Saturday, Nov. 17.