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Field hockey sees successful weekend with two wins over in-state rivals

October 26, 2014

MSU returned home to take care of CMU on Sunday, shutting out the Chippewas 2-0. Senior forward Abby Barker scored both goals for MSU, giving her a team-leading 14 on the season.

Heading into the matchup with U-M, the Wolverines were tied at the top of the Big Ten standings. With the win, the Spartans not only improved their standing in the conference, but were also able to hurt U-M’s chances at becoming the Big Ten champion.

“We haven’t beat them on their home turf since 2004,” Barker said. “Coming into their brand-new facility and being able to string together 70 minutes of great hockey, it was just a lot of fun.”

Head coach Helen Knull was thrilled following the win, mostly due to the Spartans’ complete performance, but also because it came against their biggest rival.

“It’s always nice to beat Michigan,” Knull said. “I thought we executed well, we finished our opportunities. When we were up ... we stayed calm and poised and we stuck to the game plan, and we executed.”

Coming off the big win over the Wolverines, MSU started the game against CMU a little slower than Knull would have liked. After the Spartans were able to defeat this same Chippewa team 6-1 in an exhibition earlier this season, MSU didn’t want to put a blemish on their impressive weekend.

“We were pretty sluggish coming out of the gate,” Knull said. “We kind of allowed Central to set the tempo, which was slower than what we wanted to play. So, it was kind of frustrating to watch the first half and then finally we started second half. We were a little more aggressive ... we were getting our opportunities. We were attacking on numbers.”

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sierra Patton registered her second career shutout against CMU, as her defense played well enough to not let a shot on goal. Against U-M on Friday, Patton was big for the Spartans, especially late in the game, as she turned away four shots to secure the one-goal victory.

All four goals scored by MSU this weekend came from three seniors. Barker, Ahern, and Helwig have been vital to the Spartans offensive attack this year. The trio make up the top three scorers for MSU.

Knull will have one more game to prepare her team for the Big Ten Tournament, as No. 9 Louisville travels to East Lansing next weekend to take on MSU.

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