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MSU field hockey will participate in rivalry week on Friday, taking on U-M in Ann Arbor

October 23, 2014
<p>Senior forward Allie Ahern drives the ball up the field on Oct. 17, 2014, at Ralph Young Field during the game against Iowa. The Spartans defeated the Hawkeyes, 2-0. Aerika Williams/The State News</p>

Senior forward Allie Ahern drives the ball up the field on Oct. 17, 2014, at Ralph Young Field during the game against Iowa. The Spartans defeated the Hawkeyes, 2-0. Aerika Williams/The State News

Rivalry week in Michigan goes beyond the football game being played this Saturday. While most fans of MSU and U-M will still be mentally or verbally preparing themselves on Friday for Saturday’s football game, MSU field hockey will travel to Ann Arbor to take on No. 12 U-M on Friday.

It will be MSU’s last Big Ten game of the regular season, before having two more games to prepare for the Big Ten Tournament. Central Michigan will come in to East Lansing on Sunday, followed by a matchup with No. 7 Louisville on Nov. 1.

As heated as the rivalry between MSU and U-M can get, assistant coach Molly Pelowski and her team aren’t going to make this game bigger than it already is. With MSU struggling to find consistency this season, Pelowski’s only focus is how her team is playing as they head into the most important stretch of their season.

“Absolutely not,” Pelowski said when asked if her message changes when MSU plays U-M. “I tend to think that our own greatest opponent is ourselves, so it’s really more focusing on what we need to do. ... At the end of the day, it’s not about Michigan. It’s about us and it’s about what we need to do.

“Winning is winning. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Central Michigan, or it doesn’t matter if we’re playing Michigan.”

Winning is exactly what MSU did against the Wolverines in last year’s meeting in Ann Arbor. After the two teams played to a 2-2 draw in regulation, the game went all the way to double overtime before then-junior forward Abby Barker scored the game-winner.

“That one is definitely pretty special. I’ll probably never forget that moment,” Barker said of the goal. “It’s always exciting. We’ve always had really close games with them and some intense overtimes. Physical, lots of physical play.”

Friday’s game will also involve a reunion between MSU senior back Alli Helwig and U-M junior back Mackenzie Ellis , who both attended Madison High School in New Jersey together.

“It’s always a good rivalry against Michigan,” Helwig said. “For me, my high school co-captain our senior year, she goes to Michigan. So it’s always fun to play against Michigan. They got us my freshman and sophomore year, so I’m trying to make it even 2-2. She’s not going to have anything against me.”

Helwig and the rest of the Spartans will have plenty of motivation against U-M, both for personal reasons and team goals. MSU faces off against the Wolverines at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, before returning home to play CMU at noon on Sunday.

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