Throughout the season, No. 19 MSU field hockey (10-7, 4-4 Big Ten) has struggled to find consistent offense throughout their roster. Outside of senior forwards Abby Barker and Allie Ahern, the Spartans were struggling to find contributions on a game-to-game basis.
Through seventeen games this year, MSU is averaging 2.59 goals-per-game. When breaking it down even further, MSU only averages 1.14 goals-per-game in their seven losses, compared to 3.6 in their ten wins.
With head coach Helen Knull feeling comfortable enough on the defensive side of the ball, she chose to move senior back Alli Helwig up in the field to help with the offense. Helwig, who admitted she is more of an offensive player, was vital on the Spartans back end to start the season. Her leadership and communication with teammates played a big role in the Spartans being ranked in the Top-20 for the first five weeks of the season.
Now, with the defense in tact and underclassmen stepping into newer roles, Knull was afforded the luxury of moving Helwig up on the field. It paid dividends right away, as Helwig scored a goal in three straight games against Big Ten foes No. 14 Iowa, No. 8 Northwestern, and No. 14 U-M.
"Alli's a very skillful player," Knull said of Helwig. "She's great, great kind of tricky hands, and so for us getting her up field and joining the attack, it's been kind of an element of surprise. She's done a great job finishing on our set plays, whether it's been penalty strokes or penalty corners.
"She's executing her chances and opportunities, and that's what I like to see."
Now sitting third among Spartan players with seventeen points on the season, just three behind Ahern, Helwig didn't have to change much when making the switch from defense to offense.
I don't think it's that big of a difference," Helwig said. "It's just kind of utilizing different skills in a different part of the field."
As Knull mentioned, Helwig has plenty of skill to utilize on the offensive side of the field. In some ways, Helwig is just moving back to her more natural position.
"My offensive skills are actually better than my defensive skills," Helwig said. "Realizing that we needed to be pushed up because we weren't getting the offensive output, just putting me up there to have one more person that's able to take a quicker shot is just really helping the team."
With three wins in the last four games, the move seems to be working quite well for MSU. The defense has stood tall dealing with Helwig's absence, recording two shutouts over that span and holding in-state rival U-M to one goal on their home turf. With the Big Ten Tournament just two weekends away, this move might have came at the perfect time.
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