7-0 victory advances field hockey in NCAA tournament

The No. 6 MSU field hockey team breezed to a 7-0 victory against Delaware in NCAA Tournament first round action Saturday.

Senior midfielder Floor Rijpma was MSU’s difference-maker from the start, scoring three first half goals and helping to power her team to a 4-0 lead going into the half.

The Spartans added three more tallies in the second half and advance to Sunday’s second round to battle No. 2 Virginia with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

The game is set for 2 p.m. at Virginia.

“The team came in ready to go from the start,” head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said. “Today we played our best hockey and came ready to go.”

Rijpma was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year following an impressive senior season in which she recorded 20 goals, not including the four she scored Saturday.

Freshman forward Manouk Vernij, junior back Joelle van Ireland and senior midfielder Jeamie Deacon scored MSU’s other goals. MSU had a 15-1 advantage in shots at halftime.

MSU advances to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second straight year. Last season, the Spartans dropped a heartbreaker against Iowa that held them back from a trip to the national semifinals.

The Spartans lost to Virginia 3-0 on Sept. 20, but have won 13 straight games since and enter with an 18-3 record.

Virginia defeated Richmond 3-0 Saturday and checks in at 19-3. The winner of Sunday’s contest will move on to next weekend’s Final Four in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“It’s going to be a dogfight with a ticket to the Final Four up for grabs,” van de Kerkhof said. “We have to maintain our game plan and execute as well as possible.”