After time on road, Spartans can see E.L. at end of tunnel

Six games into the young field hockey season, Spartans head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof is pleased about how his No. 8 team has performed so far — even with two losses.

Although the Spartans are coming off a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat in overtime Sunday against No. 7 Syracuse, they demonstrated an ability to play at a high level and almost left Syracuse this weekend with a pair of victories against highly ranked opponents.

“I think we’ve played great hockey so far this season,” van de Kerkhof said. “(This weekend) was bittersweet, but the season is still young and we’re still growing.”

The Spartans defeated No. 15 Old Dominion 4-1 Saturday and were on their way to a major weekend early in the season but, after pushing past an early goal against Syracuse, saw a reversal of fortunes in Syracuse’s 2-1 overtime victory.

MSU outshot Syracuse 12-4, and van de Kerkhof said his team played “great” for most of the game.

Young players
Freshman Manouk Vernij recorded two first-half goals Saturday and followed up that performance with a team-high four shots on goal against Syracuse. For her efforts, she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.

Vernij, a native of the Netherlands, said she has been adjusting well this season and is glad to have a few games so far this year.

“I scored some goals and it’s given me a lot of adrenaline,” Vernij said. “The team is growing and getting better and better.”

MSU (4-2) was further boosted by sophomore Chantae Miller, who scored a goal Saturday and added the team’s only one Sunday, and freshman Adelle Lever, who van de Kerkhof said also did a great job.

Although the Spartans boast a talented senior class that will be crucial to the team’s success this season, their young players continue to make big plays and take the pressure off the others.

Vernij will be extra motivated to face a familiar foe this weekend against James Madison.

“A friend of mine is on the team, and I think we can grow a lot,” she said.

Road stretch comes to a close
Altogether, four of MSU’s six opponents are ranked so far and the theme of playing highly ranked opponents will continue this weekend. The Spartans will pay a visit to No. 13 James Madison on Saturday before continuing through Virginia on Sunday to face No. 5 Virginia.

When the Spartans return from this weekend’s trip, they’ll finally get to play their first home game of the season Sept. 25, against No. 18 Northwestern.

Despite having to play their first eight games of the season on the road, players said they’re holding up fine from the mileage.

“It is a little difficult sometimes because it’s getting back into the swing of things with school and the work starts to pile up a little bit early,” redshirt sophomore Angie Lucik said. “But with these long bus rides we get to do some homework and stuff”.”