Michigan State Field Hockey Trio Recognized
10/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 25, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Three Michigan State field hockey players were recently recognized for their accomplishments between the lines. Earning the first such honor for State this season, freshman back Inge Kaars Sijpestijn was selected as Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for Oct.17-23. Meanwhile, midfielder Jessica Miller and goalie Christina Kirkaldy were selected to the 2005 NFHCA Division I North/South Senior All-Star Game.
Sijpestijn shares Player of the Week laurels with Iowa's Caitlin McCurdy, after leading the Spartan attack in a 4-1 victory over Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 22. The Wassenarr, Holland native fired seven of MSU's 18 shots and found the back of the cage twice to give the Spartans their first Big Ten win of the season. In her rookie year, Sijpestijn has showed a promising future, currently ranking second on the Green and White in goals and points, posting 8-4-20 totals.
Miller and Kirkaldy have been constants for Michigan State, serving as the backbone of the Spartan squad. Kirkaldy has started every game of her career, while Miller has started in 86 of 87. The two entered 2005 with a career record of 58-12 and have led the Spartans to a 10-7 record thus far in 2005. During their tenure, State has captured two Big Ten Championships, two Big Ten Tournament Championships, and has made two NCAA Final Four apperances.
Miller is currently fifth on Michigan State's all-time career assists list with 30, needing only five more to tie Julia Adams (1999-2002), in first place. She ranks third in MSU's history for single-season assists, after dishing out 15 in 2004. This season, Miller ranks third on the team in points with 16, on eight assists and four goals. In 2003, she was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team and was a Second-Team All-Big Ten honoree. Last year, she collected Big Ten All-Tournament honors again and was recognized for her work in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big Ten and NFHCA National Academic Team accolades.
Kirkaldy has also amassed several honors during her career as a Spartan. In her first year alone (2002), she was Womensfieldhockey.com National Rookie of the Year and earned All-West Region First-Team and All-Big Ten Second-Team honors. Kirkaldy ranked second in the nation in saves percentage (.838) and third in goals against average (0.87 GAA) and was named co-Big Ten Tournament MVP as well as team MVP. Her .838 numbers were good enough to etch her name on MSU's single-season saves percentage list, ranking her ninth all-time.
In 2003, Kirkaldy was chosen as Second-Team All-Big Ten, Second-Team All-Region, and to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after leading MSU to the Big Ten Tournament Championship for a second-straight year. In 2004, she earned Second-Team All-Region for the second season in a row and was a All-Big Ten honoree.
Kirkaldy entered the 2005 season with 17 career shutouts and ranked seventh on MSU's career saves list with 284. This year, she has a GAA of 1.56 and has stopped 81 shots to date. Bumping her career stops total to 365, she has moved into fifth place on the career saves list and needs just 17 more to catch Susan Roberts (1987-89) in fourth place. In her four years, she has also picked up six Big-Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors.
On the slate, Michigan State has just two regular season games remaining. The Spartans host Ohio State on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 11 a.m. and return on Sunday to take on Ohio University, at 2 p.m.
