Michigan State University Athletics
Field Hockey Downs Eighth-Ranked Ohio State
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
October 11, 1998
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Freshman forward Bridget Cooper tallied her third game-winning goal in the last four games to help lead the Michigan State field hockey team to a 2-0 victory over No. 8 Ohio State (8-3 overall /3-2 Big Ten) today at Spartan Stadium before a season-high 203 fans. The Spartans improve to 7-7 overall with the win and 3-2 in the Big Ten, the first time in program history MSU has been above .500 in the league after five games.
"We believed we could beat them," Spartan coach Michele Madison said of MSU's first victory over the Buckeyes since 1987. "We've hung in there against some highly ranked teams this season, we just have not been able to pull out a victory. We decided we were not going to be happy with that anymore.
"We are 3-2 at the halfway point of the conference schedule and that's a pretty good place to be," she added. "We're heading into the second round of games and we just have to concentrate on playing our best one game at a time."
Sophomore goalie Amy Ortwein (Hershey, Pa.) was stellar in the first half, stopping five Buckeye shots to help send the game into halftime in a scoreless tie.
Freshman Maureen Halstead (North Dartmouth, Mass.) hit a racing Bridget Cooper (Winnetka, Ill.), who stuffed the ball past an outstretched Anna Schwartz for the eventual game-winner with 20:12 left in the second half. Freshman Sanne van Nouhuys (Bilthoven, Netherlands) iced the victory for MSU when she dodged several OSU defenders with some fancy stick-work and then blasted a shot past Schwartz with 3:48 left in the game.
The Spartans will face a ranked opponent for the third-straight game when they host No. 11 Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 18. Game time is set for 1 p.m., at Spartan Stadium.
GAME STATS
1ST 2nd Final No. 8 Ohio State 0 0 0 Michigan State 0 2 2SCORING 1st HALF None
2nd HALF 1. Michigan State - Bridget Cooper (Maureen Halstead), 20:12 2. Michigan State - Sanne van Nouhuys (unassisted), 3:48
Defensive Saves: OSU (none); MSU (Marleen Tuip) GOALIES: OSU - Anna Schwartz (7 saves, 2 goals, 70 min.) MSU - Amy Ortwein (7 saves, 0 goals, 70 min.) Penalty Corners: OSU-11; MSU-5 Penalty Strokes: OSU-None; MSU-None
