Spartans improve to 5-0 in Big Ten, clinch title

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With the Big Ten title on the line and its in-state rivals having just tied the score at one, the No. 8 MSU field hockey team looked to two of its key players to put together the go-ahead goal.

Junior forwards Jantine Steinmetz and Floor Rijpma delivered with fewer than 12 minutes left when Steinmetz delivered a crisp pass to her senior midfielder teammate, who beat the Michigan goalie to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead they would keep for the rest of the match.

“(Jantine) can always find me wherever I am and, behind five people, she knows where to put it,” Rijpma said. “It’s awesome. She knew exactly where she was.”

The goal sealed the Spartans’ first ever outright Big Ten championship and the first time they’ve earned at least a share of the title since 2004.

MSU jumped in front of the Wolverines 1-0 in the later part of the first half when senior midfielder Jeamie Deacon lasered a shot off a corner that cleanly beat the U-M goalie. Deacon had missed time earlier in the season because of injury, but found her rhythm and scored five goals in the past six games, including two during the weekend.

The Spartans have been aided by the play of Deacon since her return from injury, and look for continued contributions as they advance deeper into the season.

“She’s an awesome player and she really contributes to our team,” Rijpma said. “She’s our center player and missing her was a big thing.”

The Wolverines fought back and were rewarded for strong play when they chipped in a penalty corner to tie the score at one early in the second half.

“The goal that they scored on us was unexpected because we train for corner situations over and over,” head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said.

“But we always talk about two minutes after we’ve given up a goal to score a goal, and I think we took control after that.”

It took the Spartans a little more than two minutes, but about 15 minutes later they responded with Rijpma’s goal.

The Spartans also used goals from Rijpma and Deacon Friday to defeat No. 15 Ohio State 2-1. The Buckeyes entered as the second-place team in the Big Ten and appeared to be perhaps the Spartans’ biggest roadblock to a Big Ten title. MSU played solid defense and made the plays at the end of the game to earn the victory.

The Spartans jumped ahead 2-0 after a solid first half, then had to hang on to earn the victory when Ohio State scored just more than 10 minutes into the second half.

MSU now is 5-0 in the Big Ten and 14-3 overall with one regular season game remaining next week at Penn State before it prepares to host the Big Ten Tournament the following weekend.

The Spartans need to refocus so they can match the intensity of this weekend’s games in coming weeks and use this weekend’s Big Ten title to make the team even hungrier.

“I think, for today, we just celebrate the moment that we’ve been working for so hard,” Steinmetz said. “But Tuesday for practice, we’ve just got to start focusing because the postseason is now and we’re not done yet. We’re still hungry and we’re still ready for more.”

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