Spartans post nonconference shutout

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The No. 8 MSU field hockey team avoided a home letdown Sunday, playing just well enough to defeat Central Michigan, 2-0, despite not having its strongest outing.

The Spartans had several chances to put the Chippewas away early after scoring a goal less than four minutes into the game. But Central Michigan hung tough and didn’t relent even after the Spartans scored both goals by the early stages of the second half.

MSU didn’t allow many scoring chances and was able to thwart the Chippewa attack to make it a 2-0 weekend after Friday’s dominant 6-2 performance at Indiana.

“I think today we underestimated our local opponent,” head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said after Sunday’s game. “As we gave them the opportunities and didn’t finish on some chances we had, Central Michigan did a great job in keeping it close. It’s nice to get the win and I hope we learn from it, but we don’t get too many second chances down the road.”

Senior midfielder Floor Rijpma put the Spartans ahead less than four minutes into the game when she poked in a rebound off a shot from the side of the net by freshman forward Manouk Vernij. Rijpma is the team’s leading scorer and led all players Sunday with five shots on goal.

MSU (11-3) had a few more chances during the first half but wasn’t able to muster a two-goal lead. Finally, sophomore forward Chantae Miller gave the Spartans a two-goal edge less than nine minutes into the second half, scoring on a Spartans rush.

The Chippewas applied more pressure in the final 20 minutes but were stopped each time by the MSU defense and senior goalie Elissa Unger, who recorded her second shutout of the season and made several key stops.

Unger made six saves and said the defense in front of her was strong.

“I think we’re getting in a good rhythm with the defense,” Unger said. “Things are working well, and when they aren’t working well, we’re doing a good job of singling things out and working on them in practice. I really have been seeing improvements in the defense and what we’ve been doing in the week.”

The Spartans finished with an 18-6 edge in shots on goal but were never able to establish complete control of the game.

Senior midfielder Jeamie Deacon was the team’s offensive leader Friday, scoring a hat trick in MSU’s victory against the Hoosiers and showing her complete capabilities after missing time earlier in the year because of injury.

“It’s great to have a very strong player back,” van de Kerkhof said. “She has a presence on the field and can take control of the game, so it’s great to get healthier and stronger toward the end of the season.”

Rijpma, Vernij and junior forward Jantine Steinmetz also scored in MSU’s win in Bloomington, Ind. The win improves the Spartans’ record to 2-0 in the Big Ten and puts MSU in good shape as conference play concludes in the next few weeks.

Beginning with Friday’s game at Iowa, the Spartans have four more Big Ten regular season matches before the start of the Big Ten Tournament, and they would like to make the most of each of their regular season games and continue to gel.

“I think we started very strong this season and we’ve been growing and growing,” Rijpma said. “Instead of our season going high and down, we’re going up and up, and that’s going so well for us.”

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