The MSU women’s field hockey team hosted the first game on the newly-remodeled Ralph Young Field on Friday when it battled St. Joseph’s in the home opener.
Athletics director Ron Mason was on hand for the field dedication and ceremonial faceoff, and the women celebrated their new facility by downing the Hawks 6-1.
Two Spartans earned assists in the victory while six different Spartans enjoyed scoring honors.
The first goal scored on the new “water-based” artificial field was also the first of Michelle Huynh-Ba’s college career. The freshman forward scored 13:46 into the first half on an unassisted shot.
“I’m excited (about the goal),” Huynh-Ba said. “It’s a great feeling. I’ve been working really hard in practice to improve my skills.”
Less than four minutes later, another Spartan notched her first collegiate goal. Sophomore forward Michelle Carstens’ strike was assisted by sophomore midfielder Annebet Beerman to put MSU up 2-0.
Carstens said playing on the new turf gave the Spartans certain advantages that they didn’t have when they played at Spartan Stadium.
“I like it a lot,” she said. “In the stadium there’s dry turf. There is a big difference between the two, because wet turf makes the ball easier to control.
“You can slide on the turf too - that’s a lot of fun.”
Two more Spartans would fire the ball past Hawk goalie Courtney Huff before the half.
Junior forward/midfielder Sophie Rosmalen tallied a goal and junior forward Theresa Pusateri assisted senior forward Julia Adams’ strike to put MSU up by four.
Christina Kirkaldy successfully defended the net for the Spartans in the first half. The freshman goalkeeper did not allow a goal in 35 minutes of action Friday.
St. Joseph’s would come back to score after junior Lauren Hess replaced Kirkaldy in net. Hawk forward Brett Dymarczyk scored just 28 seconds into the second half.
Hess regrouped and finished the second half with three saves in net.
The Spartans added two more goals to cap off the scoring, both off of penalty corners. Sophomore back Judith van Haeringen’s shot restored the Spartan lead to four, and Beerman scored the final goal of the game at 60:31.
Coach Michele Madison said the team was eager to get the game under way, but it didn’t take long to find its game.
“I think we were a little anxious to start,” she said. “Once we settled in about five minutes into the game, we started passing to each other and really controlled the game.”
Madison said the Spartans were caught off guard at the beginning of the second half, but the team regained its focus.
“In the second half the girls caught us sleeping on the pass back,” she said. “We were a little too happy with ourselves.”
The squad continued its weekend success by defeating Pacific 7-0 Sunday. Five Spartans scored, Beerman and Carstens raked in two strikes apiece in the victory.
The women have today off before traveling to Mount Pleasant to face Central Michigan. Faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday.
