Field Hockey Prepares for Weekend Set in Louisville
9/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 30, 2009
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Head Coach Rolf | Elissa
EAST LANSING, Mich. - After defeating Northwestern and Maine in their first two home games of the season the Spartans will return to the road this weekend when they travel to Louisville, Ky. for matchups with a pair of Big East opponents, Rutgers and Louisville.
First on the docket for the Spartans will be a 2:00 Saturday matchup with Rutgers at Louisville's Trager Stadium. The Scarlet Knights, who enter the game with a 1-9 record, are 3-4-1 all-time vs. Michigan State.
Leading the way for Rutgers will be seniors Jessika Hoh and Brittany Bybel. Hoh enters the weekend with a team-leading eight goals. While Bybel is close behind with seven. The Scarlet Knights are coached by Liz Tchou who is in her sixth season with the team.
In the second matchup of the weekend the Spartans will face the 15th-ranked Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals, who enter the weekend with a 5-4 record, are 1-6 all-time against the Spartans.
Leading the way for the Louisville offense will be sophomore Hayley Turner and junior Nicole Youman. Turner has tallied 19 points on the six goals and seven assists. While Youman has totaled 16 points on four goals and eight assists. The Cardinals will also rely on steady play in goal from senior Heather Bustanoby. Bustanoby enters the weekend with 37 saves and an impressive 1.68 goals against average.
Last weekend, the Spartans won a pair of home games against Northwestern and Maine. Leading the way for the Spartans were senior Floor Rijpma and freshman Manouk Vernij. Rijpma recorded a second half hat trick in the Spartans' 5-2 victory over Northwestern Friday afternoon and followed up that strong performance by netting the game-winner with under two minutes to play against Maine on Sunday. Vernij recorded a Michigan State record, tallying four assists in the victory over Northwestern. Against Maine, Vernij got the Spartan offense going when she scored off of a penalty corner early in the second half. Vernij kept up her strong play for the remainder of the game and recorded an assist on Rijpma's game-winner. For their achievements both Rijpma and Vernij were honored by the Big Ten. Rijpma took home Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors while Vernij was named Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
The Spartans also received solid play from goalkeeper Elissa Unger. Unger recorded a season-high 10 saves against the high powered Northwestern offense. Several of Unger's saves came when the match was either tied or still in question. Some of Unger's highlights included: a diving save on a Northwestern (Kaylee Pohlmayer) penalty stroke when the game was scoreless and a sprawling save against Big Ten goal scoring leader Chelsea Armstrong when the Spartans were up 2-0. Unger followed up her strong performance against the Wildcats by making five key saves for the Spartans in their narrow 2-1 victory over Maine. For her efforts over the weekend Unger was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. With its three honorees, Michigan State became the first ever school to have three players take home Big Ten Weekly Honors in the same week.
On the season, the Spartans have been led offensively by Rijpma and Vernij. Vernij, a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree, has recorded a team high 21 points on seven goals and seven assists. While Rijpma, a two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, has tallied 18 points on eight goals and two assists.
The Spartans enter this weekend near the top of the Big Ten in nearly every offensive category including scoring margin (+1.68), scoring average (3.46), shots per game (19.60), goals scored (35) and goals scored per game (3.50). The Spartans also rank second in the Big Ten in goals against average (1.78) and goals allowed per game (1.80) due in large part to the play of Unger.
"We just have to continue to play our game," said head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. "If we can do that and pick up on what we learned this week in practice we should be having a good weekend down in Kentucky."
Both of the MSU's games this weekend will offer live stats courtesy of gametracker. Links for gametracker can be found at msuspartans.com.
