Field hockey looking for offensive production this weekend

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As MSU field hockey head coach Helen Knull prepared her players for their final home game this season, she had a pretty good idea of what the team needed to work on.

Knull’s squad is coming off a tough 2-0 loss to then-No. 7 Michigan, in which the Spartans (7-10 overall, 1-4 Big Ten) were unable to get off a single shot in 70 minutes of play. Knull said the team’s performance showed some weaknesses on the offensive side of the ball, which the team has been working to improve this past week.

“We’re talking in practice a lot about increasing numbers situations,” she said. “We’ve been talking about creating two-on-one situations because even when we’ve got space I think sometimes we panic rather than controlling the situation.”

The Spartans will be looking to upset No. 9 Stanford on Friday before traveling to State College, Penn., to face No. 8 Penn State on Sunday.

MSU hopes to gain some momentum before going into the Big Ten tournament next weekend, also being played at Penn State, and depending on how the weekend plays out, MSU could end up as either a six or seven seed in the tournament. However, Knull said the potential for momentum is more important than improving the team’s Big Ten standing.

Defensively, the Spartans are anchored by sophomore goaltender Molly Cassidy, who has emerged as one of the team’s key players this season. Cassidy has come under constant fire from opposing players but has done an outstanding job keeping the ball out of the net, racking up a whopping 7.06 saves per game, good enough for number one in the Big Ten.

Cassidy also has received help from senior backs Angie Lucik and Holly Sherman, who will be playing in their final game at Ralph Young Stadium on Friday.

“Our defense is stellar, and they’ve been so solid for us. But we’ve been focusing on how to transfer that up to the forward line as well,” junior forward Chelsy Coil said.

The Spartans will definitely need to get their offense going if they hope to steal a pair of wins from two of the top teams in the nation. Penn State is boasting an average of 3.62 goals per game while Stanford is hot on the Nittany Lions’ heels, tallying 3.44 goals per game, putting the teams at 11 and 13 respectively in that category. Meanwhile, MSU is averaging 1.47 goals per game, placing them outside of the top 50 teams in the country.

However, despite the somewhat intimidating weekend matchups ahead, junior midfielder Adelle Lever has faith that the team has what it takes to finish the regular season on a high note.

“Stanford and Penn State are both very fast, very aggressive teams with great stick skills,” Lever said. “Our field awareness will have to be on point for us to get the win.”

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