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For the first time this season, No. 19 MSU field hockey (4-2 overall) was able to put together two wins in a row this weekend in Kent, Ohio. After beating Kent State in overtime yesterday afternoon, the Spartans turned in a dominating performance Sunday, defeating Richmond 6-1.
The Spiders scored the first goal of the game at 8:30 of the first half, but it was all MSU after that. Just over five minutes after Richmond opened the scoring, senior back Alli Helwig converted on a penalty stroke to tie the game up.
“Our focus really going into today’s game was playing with possession and purpose,” h ead coach Helen Knull said. “I think we did that from the first minute and it finished with the result we had at the end of the game.”
It was two more Spartan seniors that closed out the scoring in the first half, with senior forward Allie Ahern and senior forward Abby Barker netting goals to give MSU a 3-1 lead heading into the second half.
The second half started much like the first half ended, with Barker and Ahern both earning their second goals of the game to extend the lead to 5-1. It was Ahern’s fourth goal of the season and Barker’s team-leading seventh goal of the season in just six games.
Barker had a goal and two assists in the game against Kent State, and added another assist to go along with her two goals in today’s game. She has been a force as of late, but Knull has been seeing these performances since Barker’s freshman year.
“She makes the people around her better,” Knull said. “You see her more and more coaching the other athletes, scoring goals, assisting goals, picking people up around her.
“She’s someone that if the game’s on the line, she’ll put the team on her back and she wants to win it for her team. And that’s been Abby since freshman year.”
To cap off the scoring for MSU, redshirt freshman forward Kendal Anderson scored her second career goal, and second in two games. MSU converted six of the eleven shots they had on net, while only allowing one goal on seven shots on net. Sophomore goalkeeper Sierra Patton continued her impressive season as MSU’s goalkeeper, but gave way to freshman goalkeeper Katie Miller near the end of the second half.
These were the last non-conference games scheduled for the Spartans, as they head to Columbus next weekend to open up Big Ten play against Ohio State. Knull hopes this weekend will serve as a confidence boost for her team before the rugged Big Ten schedule.
“Obviously, heading into Big Ten play starting on Friday, going 2-0 on the weekend is great for the confidence and sets us up well for conference play,” Knull said.
