Under the pouring rain at the MSU Field Hockey Complex, tears were raining down from the faces of the No. 5 MSU women's field hockey team members after suffering a 2-1 upset from No. 6 Michigan in the second round of NCAA Tournament action on Sunday.
The Spartans defeated Louisville, 2-0, in the first round of tournament play on Saturday and hosted rival U-M in Sunday's quarterfinals for a chance to grace the field hockey Final Four for the second straight year.
The loss to the Wolverines was the second on home turf this season. U-M is the only team to defeat MSU at its own complex, as the Wolverines beat the Spartans 1-0 on Oct. 17.
"I think it's tough anytime you play on your home field and you can't win," senior midfielder Alexandra Kyser said. "It just makes it that much more worse that your season is over."
The Wolverines took an early lead when forward Adrienne Hortillosa took a shot off a penalty corner and put it past Spartans goaltender Christina Kirkaldy at 11:40 in the first half. Midfielder Jessica Blake sealed the lead when she scored on Kirkaldy to give the Wolverines the 2-0 lead at the half.
The Spartans got on the board less than two minutes in the second half when junior midfielder Veerle Goudswaard capitalized on a clean pass from sophomore midfielder Jessica Miller cutting the Wolverines' lead in half.
Goudswaard said it was disappointing to lose to U-M but more disappointing to miss a chance to compete for the national championship.
"I don't have anything against Michigan, really, since this is my first year here, and I'm not into the rival thing," Goudswaard said. "Obviously, I see everyone else's emotions and know that everyone else wants to beat them so bad, but both times I feel we could have (won), and that's the hardest part for me."
U-M head coach Marcia Pankratz said she enjoyed the competition against MSU and was proud to see a strong battle between the two best teams in the conference.
"They really have great leadership in their seniors with Sophie (Rosmalen) and Kyser," Pankratz said. "They represent the Big Ten so well
