Final Four journey begins vs. familiar foe

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Despite having to travel to Virginia and face a difficult road to the Final Four, the No. 6 MSU field hockey team was in good spirits this week as it prepared for Saturday’s NCAA first round match against No. 11 Delaware.

The Spartans earned their third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament following a 17-3 season in which they won their first outright Big Ten regular season championship as well as a Big Ten Tournament championship for the first time since 2003.

“I think we are well prepared because the Big Ten regular season, as well as the Big Ten Tournament, have given us all the scenarios that, as a coach, you hope to be exposed to,” head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said. “We are ready to go and we know what to do to be better on the road.”

Last season, the Spartans defeated defending national champion North Carolina in the first round before losing a heartbreaker in the second round against Iowa. The previous season, the Spartans fell against Wake Forest in the first round.

Game time is set for 2 p.m. Saturday on the campus of Virginia, where MSU already has played a game earlier this season. MSU defeated Delaware 7-2 in its Aug. 29 season opener, and would face the winner of Virginia and Richmond in the second round at 2 p.m. Sunday if it defeats Delaware.

The 16-team tournament will conclude with next weekend’s national semifinal to be held in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Spartans suffered their only multigoal loss of the season Sept. 20 at Virginia, 3-0. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 2 and have maintained an 18-3 record despite playing a difficult ACC schedule.

Delaware has turned its season around after losing to MSU in its opening game. The Blue Hens are 14-5 and are led by senior forward Casey Howard’s 22 goals and 51 points.

The Aug. 29 match was highlighted by freshman forward Manouk Vernij’s hat trick in her first game as a Spartan, but players and coaches said they expect a different game Saturday as both teams have grown significantly throughout the season.

“This season has really taught us how to play well on the road and how to be mentally tough,” junior midfielder Angela Pagura said. “We’ve had no really easy traveling back and forth, and I think it’s going to pay off now.”

The Spartans played one of their toughest regular season schedules in recent memory, and opened the season with their first eight games on the road. MSU is riding a 12-game winning streak into Saturday’s matchup and hasn’t lost since the game against Virginia.

“If you want to be one of the best you have to play the best, and I think we’ve played one of the toughest schedules this year in the country and it’s the toughest one in my 11 years here,” van de Kerkhof said. “We should be prepared for the games that lay ahead of us.”

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