After 45 minutes of scoreless play, sophomore midfielder Kristen Henn capitalized on her team’s fifth penalty corner of the day to score the game’s only goal. Redshirt senior Joelle van Ierland and senior midfielder Sabine van den Assem assisted the goal.

The goal was MSU’s eighth penalty corner goal in the last four games.

“I think we picked it up in the second half,” Henn said. “We had a little bit of a rough first half, but we played more simple field hockey in the second half, so that was good. We played more together.”

The Spartans said their increased focus in practice was evident in the game. Sophomore back Corey Block said the defense has been aiming to stop opponents’ attacks before they enter the circle and dominate one-on-one balls.

“I thought we showed a lot of fight today,” Block said following the win. “We fought hard even when we had opportunities to get discouraged because we had so many chances (to score), but we kept fighting and our press improved a lot today. We were able to step up and intercept a lot of balls on all lines of the field.”

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Molly Cassidy made three saves in her second shutout of the season, and MSU outshot Providence (0-5) 20-5.

The Spartans repeated a scoreless first half against No. 14 James Madison (2-4) on Sunday afternoon.

“We know we’re pretty solid on defense, and we know we’re struggling and continue to struggle somewhat with converting on opportunities,” head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said. “So I won’t be surprised if we have more close games by one or two goals, but we’ll find a way to win.”

In the 49th minute of play, MSU received its second corner of the game. After van den Assem passed it to the top of the circle and Henn blasted a shot, James Madison goalkeeper Margo Savage made the save.

But senior midfielder Angela Pagura caught the rebound and pushed the ball into the back corner of the cage for an unassisted, game-winning goal. The Spartans kept the Dukes from getting on the scoreboard, winning 1-0 and giving Cassidy her second shutout of the weekend and third for the season.

“Cassidy played great,” Block said. “She had a lot of risky shots on her, and she was a beast and didn’t let anything in.

“We’re very luck to have her back there. As a defender, I’m so confident with her back there, and I feel comfortable with her.”

James Madison outshot the Spartans 13-12 and led in penalty corners 5-4. Both Cassidy and Savage had six saves on the afternoon.

Block said although the team needs to work on turning its opportunities into goals, everyone managed to stay calm under the Dukes’ pressure and constantly communicated.

“We had a lot of pressure on us in the second half and the first half, but especially the second,” Block said. “They were putting strong pressure on us, so it was just a matter of staying calm and staying as a unit.

“There’s a lot of communication; we’re always talking to each other, whether it’s just to calm each other down or to tell each other where to go.”

Overall, van de Kerkhof and Pagura both agreed that their play against James Madison was the team’s best all season, and if they can continue to create more scoring opportunities, they’ll improve and remain undefeated.

“We played our best hockey as a team today, which is nice because we have been in progress from the preseason up,” van de Kerkhof said. “We want to get better, and we’re getting better in a lot of areas. I think we just have to finish the opportunities we have, but at least we were creating them today compared to earlier in the season.”