No. 9 Field Hockey Downs Hofstra, 5-2

Oct. 18, 2003

East Lansing, Mich. - No. 9 Michigan State field hockey got on the board early earning a 5-2 victory over Hofstra Saturday, Oct. 18, on Parent's Day at the MSU Field Hockey Complex. Junior Annebet Beerman scored less than seven minutes into the game for her first of three goals on the afternoon. Michigan State improved to 11-4 overall (3-1 Big Ten) while the Pride fell to 10-5 (1-3 CAA).

Hofstra recorded four shots against State in the first three minutes of the first half, but took only two the rest of the half. On MSU's first penalty corner of the game, Beerman smashed a shot set up by freshman Jennifer Beeuwkes and senior Alexandra Kyser past Hofstra goalkeeper Jessica Cowperthwait for a 1-0 lead at 6:09.

"It felt good to score on the corner," said Beerman. "Yesterday (against Michigan) corners did not seem to work out so it was exciting today."

The Spartans took two penalty strokes in the half as Hofstra hit the ball with their feet on the goal line twice. Although Kyser's attempt was saved, junior Veerle Goudswaard flipped her shot high into the back of the net at 31:42 for a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

Beerman opened the second half with the eventual game-winner at 37:42. After two MSU shots off a penalty corner, she sailed a third shot into the net from approximately 10 yards out. Although the Pride snuck a rebound past State goalkeeper Christina Kirkaldy 1:59 later, Beerman took advantage of a Michigan State timeout later in the half. As Kyser blasted a shot inside, Beerman secured the hat trick by tipping it high over Cowperthwait, giving State a 4-1 lead at 53:03.

"Hofstra came back strong in the second half," said Beerman, who entered double-digits in the goal department with 11 on the year. "But when Coach called the timeout, we realized we still had about 15 minutes left to play and we just managed to score again."

Goudswaard sealed the victory one minute after State's fourth goal with her second of the game and 12th of the season. The Pride added another goal off a penalty shot at 66:14, but State's lead was too large to overcome.

"(Penalty corners) are one of our strengths," said head coach Michele Madison. "Sophie (Rosmalen) created a lot for us with the corner opportunities. We weren't as sharp as we could be but we had to be able to respond after yesterday's loss and we did that."

Michigan State outshot Hofstra 22-17 while MSU posted seven penalty corner's to the Pride's five. Kirkaldy finished with five saves while senior Lauren Hess finished the game in goal and stopped three shots.

Michigan State takes on Penn State in State College, Pa., for the final regular season road contest of the year Saturday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. MSU's final home game is set for Oct. 31 against Ohio State at 5 p.m.