Spartans make big plays in weekend sweep

After waiting four weekends to see a home game, fans of the No. 8 MSU field hockey team had to wait until the second half Friday before the Spartans found their rhythm.

But when they did, it was well worth the wait.

In the Spartans’ first home match of the season, they took a little while to get their offense going but then flipped the “on” switch, jetting past No. 18 Northwestern with five second half goals en route to a 5-2 win in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof had a good chat with his team at halftime that helped them generate a goal-scoring frenzy in the second half.

“I think we needed to find a new groove because it’s a new season,” van de Kerkhof said. “I think for everybody here the second half was a joy to watch for the coaches and the players and it was a convincing win against a very good Northwestern team.”

For an encore, MSU powered past Maine on Sunday with a late game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory.

Senior midfielder Floor Rijpma delivered the game-winner against Maine with 1:48 remaining, and it was her hat trick against Northwestern that proved to be the difference.

Rijpma was making plays on both ends of the field and her 10 shots-on-goal total was more than double that of any other player in the Northwestern game.

“I really think we as a team connected and learned from plays and gave each other opportunities,” Rijpma said. “We were finally home after four rough weekends away, and I think we were ready to show our fans that this is our home.”

Rijpma was helped by four assists from freshman forward Manouk Vernij, who also added the team’s first goal Sunday. Vernij is the team’s points leader and has had a good start to her freshman season thus far. Vernij also assisted on Rijpma’s game-winner against Maine.

“The first game was really exciting — there was a lot of energy and we had a lot of fun out on the field,” Vernij said. “I think we worked hard, but we have to work a little bit harder together.”

The Spartans got the scoring going early in the second half against Northwestern when junior forward Jantine Steinmetz made a crossing play in front of the net to bury one home. Two Rijpma goals in a 15-minute stretch made it 3-0 MSU and put the game out of reach.

The Wildcats answered with a goal shortly after, but junior midfielder Julie Mackay’s goal sealed the game with 5:18 remaining.

Rijpma added her third goal with barely more than two minutes left after a Northwestern score.

Van de Kerkhof was pleased with the what the team was able to accomplish in its first home game of the year.

“After a while, home-field advantage is what you make of it, but I think today the second half was a lot better home advantage-wise because we got ourselves more into it,” van de Kerkhof said.

MSU got behind early against Maine, yielding a goal less than five minutes in, but made big plays at the end of the game to secure the victory.