The team that has the most possession and knows how to maintain it most likely will be victorious in the game, and that’s exactly what MSU is practicing, head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said.

“If you can get the ball and possess it, you have to make sure that you take the time to possess it,” he said. “That means that there’s a lot of movement with the ball, but even more movement away from the ball by teammates who create space for the ballcarrier.”

The Spartans also have emphasized the concept of keeping the game simple to help the players make the right decisions in their offensive execution to maintain possession.

“Simple hockey is just passing the first pass you see and not trying to do it yourself or take on four defenders,” senior midfielder Julie Mackay said. “Off-the-ball movement is important too because … that’s being there so that they have the option to go to you.”

The Spartans are confident that once they expand their off-ball movement, their time of possession will increase and lead to a successful attack.

“The timing of everybody that is involved close to the ball or farther away (will) allow ourselves to have a quality buildup and, with that, generate a quality attack,” van de Kerkhof said.

Scoring adjustments

Working with the movement on the field also will help MSU create more valuable scoring opportunities, something with which the team has been struggling. MSU has scored one or fewer goals in four of its last five games.

“As forwards, we’re trying to get more opportunities,” Mackay said. “If we don’t draw the (penalty) corner, we just want to make sure all of our scoring positions are covered and just ultimately finish it in the end.

“We’re really focusing on that in practice and having our defense put pressure on us to make us ready for game time.”

As with possession, van de Kerkhof noted that offensive timing is crucial to the Spartans’ attack. He said his team will be more offensively-minded now that sophomore midfielder Kristen Henn and junior back Angie Lucik have been cleared for 100 percent participation from undisclosed injuries.

“It’s the timing of the play and the forward line working together with the timing of the defensive corner unit, so that just needs repetition,” van de Kerkhof said. “We have some people that are coming back that were not healthy to start, so I think we’ll see a continued improvement in the offensive, attacking circle.”

First half struggles

For the team to grow as a whole, The team said they are focusing on maintaining its intensity in the both halves because they tend to be a second-half team.

This season, the Spartans have performed much better in the second half than the first. In second halves, they have more goals (18-13), corners (35-29) and shots (87-74) compared to the first half.

“We want to be a first-half team and not just a second-half team,” sophomore back Corey Block said. “So in some games, we do tend to pick it up in the second half because I think we just have the momentum coming from the first half, and we’re ready to just finish up the game strong.”

MSU’s next game is at 4 p.m. Friday in Ann Arbor against Michigan. The Spartans then host Ohio at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ralph Young Field.

“(We want to) play our game and play simple hockey, play together, possess the ball, create opportunities and finish those opportunities,” Block said. “We want to be able to do that right off the bat in the first half and not just ride the momentum we have in the second.”