After opening its weekend with a devastating 5-1 loss to No. 6 Ohio State on Friday, the No. 7 MSU field hockey team came together as a unit to take down Northwestern, 2-1, Sunday at Ralph Young Field.
Despite Sunday’s game not counting in the Big Ten standings, the Spartans (12-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) recovered physically and regrouped mentally while treating the game like a traditional conference matchup.
In MSU’s defeat against the Buckeyes (11-3, 3-1), team members said they came out strong in the first half but couldn’t recover from the first four goals Ohio State put in before the Spartans got on the board.
“Ohio State came out a little stronger in the second half,” head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said. “We did not allow ourselves to bounce back from some early goals they got in that period, and then you are just behind and are no longer in the driver’s seat.”
The Spartans put their loss in the past and focused on their Northwestern game, which served as a preview for their Oct. 31 conference game.
In addition to the Wildcats (10-6, 2-1) being a highly-anticipated game, MSU had a sibling rivalry between freshman midfielder Katherine Jamieson and her older sister, Wildcat back Megan Jamieson.
Because their positions kept them on the same side of the field, the sisters guarded each other throughout the game.
“When I was in, she was marking me a couple times,” Katherine Jamieson said. “I could tell it was her, and we were kind of pushing each other around.”
The Spartans’ team goals included driving their game and playing with and for each other.
“After a hard loss the past game, we really came together and played with heart today,” senior forward Jantine Steinmetz said.
Sophomore midfielder Kristen Henn scored her ninth goal of the season in the 43rd minute to tie the score at one, and Huck posted the game-winner with less than three minutes left in the game. Steinmetz assisted both goals.
MSU said it saw elements of this week’s practice translate into success against the Wildcats.
“(We wanted to) get something more out of opportunities in the circle, like look for a corner,” Steinmetz said. “We also worked on placing the ball for the tip, which happened on the second goal.”
With both teams having the same number of penalty corners with four, the Spartans had to find other opportunities to put up a fight and maintain their time of possession.
“Today, we were gladiators,” van de Kerkhof said. “We were banged up but we stayed alive and fought all through the fight.
“In the end, we have an opportunity to heal, prepare again and get ready for our next fight out there.”
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