Rijpma Named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week
10/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 6, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Junior Floor Rijpma has been named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after recording a team-high 10 points in two Spartan wins this past weekend. The award is the first of her career, and second-straight honor for MSU.
A native of Bunnik, Netherlands, Rijpma helped the Spartans to a 9-1 win over Indiana for the team's second conference win. Rijpma recorded a career-high four goals in the game, bettering her pervious record (set last season) of two goals against Ohio State. Her four-goal performance also marked the first hat trick for the Spartans this season. She continued her seven-game point streak on Sunday, recording her fifth goal of the weekend off a penalty stroke in a shutout win over Temple.
Rijpma leads the team with 13 goals and 29 points, and has surpassed her goal total from last season. She is tied for 15th nationally in points per game and is ninth in goals per game. In the Big Ten, she is tied for first in points and points per game, and is second in goals per game and third in goals.
Michigan State is ranked second nationally in scoring average (4.68) and goals per game (4.75), is third in scoring margin (3.45) and second in points per game (13.25). MSU is also second nationally in winning percentage. The Spartans rank first in scoring margin, shots (253) and in goals scored (57) in the Big Ten. MSU sits atop the Big Ten with a .917 win percentage and the fewest losses so far this season.
Two other Spartans have earned Player of the Week accolades from the Big Ten this season. Junior Elissa Unger (Reading, Pa.) was named Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 15 and classmate Jeamie Deacon (Wexford, Ireland) garnered Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29.
Rijpma and the Spartans return to action this weekend in Evanston, Ill. On Friday the Spartans face host Northwestern in a Big Ten game at 3 p.m., then take on third-ranked Wake Forest in a neutral site contest on Saturday at 2 p.m.
