No. 7 MSU field hockey continued its home domination with a 5-2 rout of Central Michigan on Thursday.
The Spartans (5-1) currently enjoy a 13-game winning streak in East Lansing - one that dates back to Oct. 7, 2001. MSU's last loss came in a double-overtime 2-1 heartbreaker to then-No. 2 ranked Michigan.
In Thursday's win, the Spartans exercised their right to strike both early and often, notching two goals just more than 15 minutes into the match.
Junior midfield Veerle Goudswaard opened the scoring for MSU, drilling a reverse sweep ball past Chippewas goalie Danielle Frank in the match's sixth minute. Goudswaard would earn another tally before the match was through, increasing her season total to three.
"Central's always a big game with a lot of pressure, I couldn't ask for more ball tempo," MSU head coach Michele Madison. "We were able to find each other and alleviate the first line of pressure,"
Ten minutes passed before a penalty corner allowed junior forward Michelle Carstens to emerge victorious from a scrum in front of the net to increase MSU's lead to two. For the game, MSU outshot Central Michigan on the corners 13-9.
During the 19th minute, the Chippewas attacked the Spartans' goal for the first time. Sophomore goalkeeper Christina Kirkaldy threw herself to the turf to block the shot, but Central forward Kristy Reed found a way around her to close the gap to 2-1.
Freshman forward Ashley Pernicano added an insurance goal on a breakaway cross from Goudswaard at 19:01, while Goudswaard tapped another into the back of the cage at 26:56 to close out scoring for the half.
"It was a hard game, a good, hard game," Goudswaard said. "(The scoring) is all about positioning, we work the ball and pass to each other and someone is open, it's really not about (individual) scoring."
Frank was removed from at that point, and replaced by Central goalkeeper Laura Plese. The latter fared much better in net, surrendering just one more goal in 43 minutes.
Senior midfield Alexandra Kyser put in the final tally with her team-leading seventh goal on the year. The original shot, a penalty corner, ricocheted off Plese's pads to Kyser, who tapped it home for the 5-1 edge.
Central Michigan sneaked one past MSU senior goalkeeper Lauren Hess with 1 minute remaining in the game, but the damage already was done, and the Spartans left the MSU Field Hockey Complex with the 5-1 victory. Hess and Kirkaldy each played one half in the cage, Hess registering two saves while Kirkaldy went unchallenged.
MSU will take tomorrow off before traveling to North Carolina to take on No. 1-ranked Wake Forest and No. 4 Duke on Sunday and Monday, respectively.
"We played really well and hard today," Pernicano said. "It's good for us to score because it increases our confidence.
"Now we can go to the defending National Champions and see where we are, if we play an even game."
