Michigan State University
Indiana, Big Ten Tournament
Spartans Upset Indiana, Advance In Big Ten Tournament
11/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 3, 2006
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Scoring a season-high two goals, Gwen Riley led the Spartans to a 3-1 victory over the No. 2 seeded Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich. Senior Ashley Pernicano put in the game-winning goal at 48:28, as seventh-seeded MSU upset the Hoosiers to advance to the semi-final round of the tournament on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The win marks the first post-season victory for first year head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof.
"We continued to rise to the occasion and improve our play today," said Van de Kerkhof. "Everything is coming together as we wanted it to, which allowed us to put up a convincing win over Indiana."
With very few shots by either team in the first half, the game remained scoreless until 25:27 when Michigan State (8-11, 2-5 Big Ten) put in its first goal of the game. Gwen Riley, notched only her third goal of the season, chipping in a pass from Becky Manning in front of the goal to give the Spartans their first lead of the game.
The score remained 1-0 at the end of the period, with the Spartans taking four shots to just one by Indiana (14-6, 4-3 Big Ten). MSU also held an advantage on penalty corners, 3-0. Indiana keeper Haley Exner had one save in the half.
The Spartans increased their lead to 2-0 at 48:28, as senior Ashley Pernicano put in a goal off of a deflected corner shot. The Hoosiers cut Michigan State's lead in half with less than five minutes to go in regulation as Katie Kiper tipped in a shot by Morgan Miller. Riley answered back with her second goal of the day at 68:52 to post a 3-1 final.
"Gwen did an outstanding job in picking up rebounds and putting herself in the position to score on both occasions," said Van de Kerkhof. "She stayed cool and put it in the open net."
The Spartans outshot the Hoosiers, 12-5, although corners were close with MSU taking six compared to Indiana's five. Spartan senior goalkeeper Stephanie Yuhasz closed out the day with three saves, while Exner ended with four.
The win puts Michigan State in the semi-final round on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., against Penn State. The Nittany Lions are seeded third in the tournament, and advanced to tomorrow's game after defeating Northwestern, 2-0, on Friday.
Michigan State advances to the semi-final round for the fourth time in school history; MSU went on to win the tournament in 2002 and 2004.
