Big Ten Tournament comes to E.L. for weekend games

As the No. 8 MSU field hockey team prepares for this week’s Big Ten Tournament, it has every reason in the world to be feeling good about itself.

The Spartans are riding a 10-game winning streak after collecting their first outright Big Ten regular season championship and prepare to host the tournament at Ralph Young Field, where they’re 5-0 this season.

They’re also coming off a 5-1 win this weekend at Penn State where their leading scorer, senior midfielder Floor Rijpma, posted her third hat trick of the season.

Nevertheless, the Spartans can’t afford to become too overconfident as they prepare for a one-game elimination style Big Ten Tournament where any play can be the difference between a loss or a tournament win.

“The regular season has come to an end on a good note for the Spartans winning the Big Ten, but this is a new season to everybody,” head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said. “Everybody starts with a 0-0 record in postseason play,”

Seven teams prepare to fight for a Big Ten Tournament championship Thursday through Sunday at Ralph Young Field. The Spartans are the No. 1 seed, earning them a bye in the first round.

MSU will open play at 12:15 p.m. Friday against either Iowa or Michigan, and a win would earn them a trip to the tournament championship game at noon Sunday.

Friday’s semifinal games and Sunday’s championship game air live on the Big Ten Network.

No matter which team the Spartans play, they will have to be on top of their game.

The Wolverines, the No. 5 seed, fought MSU down to the wire in the Spartans’ Big Ten-clinching 2-1 victory earlier this season, while the fourth-seeded Hawkeyes are the three-time defending Big Ten Tournament champions.

No. 2 seed Ohio State enters with a 13-5 overall record and looks to be one of the favorites to win the tournament. MSU defeated the Buckeyes 2-1 earlier in the season.

Ohio State opens Thursday against No. 7 Penn State, last season’s regular season Big Ten champion, with the winner moving on to Friday’s semifinal.

Offense versus defense will be the theme of Thursday’s final matchup as No. 3 Indiana, anchored by strong defensive play, squares off with No. 6 Northwestern, which has scored 65 goals this season, the most of any team in the Big Ten.

The Spartans haven’t won the Big Ten Tournament championship since 2003 and have fallen against Iowa the past two seasons. This year, the team hopes to build off its Big Ten regular season championship and fulfill another of its goals with a Big Ten championship.

“Since we haven’t won one since I’ve been here, it’s exciting,” senior goalie Elissa Unger said. “It’s always great to be at home, particularly this year, because we’ve been at home so little.”

Only five of the Spartans’ 18 games this season have been at Ralph Young Field, and three of the Spartans’ five home victories have been by the score of 2-1.

Although the Spartans were dominant in a 6-0 conference season, expect them to be challenged this weekend and use the home crowd as much as possible.

“I’d like to believe that we have more people coming out cheering us on,” van de Kerkhof said. “It will be a little more of an edge this weekend because this is tournament time, and I think tournament time gives us a little extra dimension.”

During the 10-game winning streak, the Spartans have outscored opponents 34-9, led by their senior leaders. Rijpma and senior midfielder Jeamie Deacon have paced the scoring attack with several explosive games, and Unger has been solid in net.

The Spartans hope their strong play of late carries through to the postseason.

“It’s definitely awesome to be playing our best hockey right now,” junior midfielder Julie Mackay said. “To be back here and play on our home field is great and another opportunity for us to go out here and show what we can do at home.”