Spartans to open season as No. 10 ranked team in country

The MSU field hockey team ranks 10th in the nation in a preseason poll released by the STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association on Tuesday — just a few days before heading to the Champions Invitational Tournament in Louisville, Ky.

“I think we are somewhere between the top five and the top 10, if I look at what I have and what I know from other programs,” MSU head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said. “Once again I think it’s good for the team that they know they’re being looked at as a top 10 program, it’s now just for us to start building from 10 and find a way down to the highest position we can get.”

The Spartans open up play Saturday against Delaware — the last time the two teams met, van de Kerkhof was issued his first loss as a head coach.

“They seemed to be a decent team, we went up 4-0 and they got back into the game and beat us 5-4 with no minutes left on the clock,” van de Kerkhof said.

The Blue Hens were picked to finish sixth in their conference and return their top three scorers from last season.

“It’s the first game for both programs; everybody will be excited to start, anxious to start. We have had the luxury that we scrimmaged Michigan so we had a chance to see what we had to fit and what didn’t go well,” van de Kerkhof said. “We just have to be ready, we just have to play our own Spartan hockey game and if we do so then I’m looking forward to what happens afterwards.”

MSU tied U-M in a scrimmage, 2-2, last weekend, but the team looks to win a tournament this weekend that also features two other top 20 programs — Duke (No. 12) and Louisville (No. 17).

Duke beat national runner-up Penn State in the preseason and returns its top six scorers from a team that made the NCAA Tournament.

Louisville is a young team with only four upperclassmen, but beat Indiana handily in their only preseason game, 4-1. The Cardinals return two of their top five scorers.

“Both teams will be right up there as the season progresses, I expect both teams to be a solid top 15 program,” van de Kerkohf said. “It’s just hard to see this early in the season without any references to where they are, where we are, but once again we just have to pay attention to our own game then we’ll go from there.”

Junior midfielder Jeamie Deacon said the team is ready to finally play their first game.

“Our preseason actually started last spring because were returning so many people,” Deacon said. “It’s just nice because we’ve been together for like nine months now, so were definitely ready.”

Published on Tuesday, August 26, 2008