Late rally falls short for field hockey

---

Tweet

Fresh off its second straight Big Ten loss, the MSU field hockey team lost to the No. 10 New Hampshire Wildcats, 5-3, Sunday at Ralph Young Field despite a late surge by freshman forward Abby Barker.

The Spartans (5-8 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) already were reeling from a 3-0 loss to Northwestern on Thursday, in which the team gave up three second-half goals and went into the second half only down 2-1. However, once again the defense collapsed in the second half, allowing eight shots on goal and three scores, putting the Spartans in a hole too deep to climb out of.

The Spartans played the Wildcats tough in the first half Sunday despite falling behind midway through. With about 19 minutes to go in the first half, the Wildcats scored their first goal of the match on a slow rolling shot along the baseline by New Hampshire forward Whitney Frates.

About four minutes later, the Wildcats seemed to be poised to score again, but sophomore goaltender Molly Cassidy reached up and snatched the ball out of the air. Cassidy’s heroics were short lived, as New Hampshire back Kyle Lyons was able to score on a penalty corner from forward Emma Erler and back Kendall Deck.

With two minutes left in the half the Spartans rallied back, scoring on a penalty corner goal by freshman forward Allie Ahern. Senior back Holly Sherman and sophomore midfielder Katherine Jamieson were credited with the assist. As time ran out, the Spartans found themselves taking another penalty corner but were unable to capitalize as Ahern’s shot went wide.

As the second half began, MSU seemed to have all the momentum, but the tides quickly turned as Erler scored an unassisted goal 49 seconds into the half.

“It always takes the winds out of your sails when they score early, but I think the girls did a pretty good job of regrouping after it,” head coach Helen Knull said. “It just puts you on your heels, and that’s not where you want to be coming out of the second half.”

About eight minutes later, the Wildcats found the back of the cage again on a goal by forward Hayley Rausch. Forward Mary Quill scored what would end up being New Hampshire’s final goal about five minutes later on a pass from Frates.

Down 5-1 with about 12 minutes left in the match, all looked lost for the Spartans. However, Barker took the ball down the field, weaving through defenders and sneaking the ball into the net, bringing the Spartans to within three. 42 seconds later, Barker scored again, and MSU seemed ready to rally back.

“It swung our momentum because it sparked a little fire and showed that we still had hope of coming back and fighting for the win,” Barker said.

As it turned out, Barker’s efforts were a case of too little, too late, as the Spartans could not handle the amount of offensive pressure put on by New Hampshire. Cassidy tallied 9 saves, but it wasn’t enough as New Hampshire escaped with the victory.

“We just need to get back to practice and just go over film, see what’s good and what needs tweaking,” Cassidy said. “I think we’re all looking forward to changing what we need to.”

The Spartans are looking at another weekend on the road, traveling to the state of Indiana to take on Ball State on Saturday and Indiana on Sunday.

---