After letting in the game-winning goal from Michigan in overtime of the second round of the NCAA Tournament, MSU field hockey team’s defense may have expected criticism.
But the team would have only needed to point to the tournament statistics and scores to respond to the skeptics.
Up to that season-ending goal, the defense had held some elite scorers to disappointing numbers in the tournament.
In the first round, the Spartan defense held Kent State to two shots in the game, shutting down their forward Arlette van Cleeff, who scored 21 goals in the regular season.
Sophomore midfielder Alexandra Kyser defended van Cleeff for most of the game, and MSU head coach Michele Madison said shutting down the nation’s No. 2 scorer was the key to regulating the game.
“I thought Kyser played a great defensive game on her,” Madison said. “Everyone was covering for Kyser while she went for the ball because they were trying to feed to Arlette.”
Van Cleeff was not the only scoring threat for Kent State, as proven by the Golden Flashes’ lone scorer, forward Kristen Johnson.
But Kent State’s offensive style of smacking the ball upfield instead of attacking strategically made the game simpler for MSU, Kyser said.
“I think they play a great hitting (game) so it was easy to defend,” she said. “We were aware of that, so once we caught on to how they were going to play we could block it up.”
Tthe team faced a stiffer challenge from U-M in the second round.
The Wolverines showcased their offense against first round opponent, North Carolina.
U-M scored five goals in the second half of that game, including three from forward April Fronzoni.
But the Spartans were able to hold U-M to one goal in regulation, because of a stiffening of the team’s defense.
“Their forwards are very dangerous, so we had to mark them pretty tight,” Madison said. “That meant (our) forwards really had to come back and apply the pressure so (defenseman) Kristi Gannon couldn’t just distribute the ball wherever she wanted to.”
Even with the tight defense, U-M created chances, posting 15 shots in the game, but sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Hess recorded five saves in the game to aid the defense.
But as each team lost three players because of overtime rules, U-M’s chances increased - it posted three shots after five extra minutes, including the game-winner, which Hess missed because of the lack of defenders on the field.
“I was really close,” she said. “(There was) just one extra centimeter that I couldn’t reach.”
But Hess said she’s satisfied with the team and her own defensive performances.
“There was a lot of pressure on me, and I tried to do my best,” Hess said.
