Oct. 18, 2008
Box Score
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Ohio field hockey team dropped a hard-fought match, 2-1, against No. 4 Michigan State in double overtime Saturday afternoon at the MSU Field Hockey Complex. Senior Rachelle Coetzee (Bloemfontein, S.A.) knotted the game for Ohio (6-9, 4-2 MAC) in the second half, before the Spartans (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten) grabbed the victory late in the second overtime.
The Bobcats took possession to start the match, as sophomore Louzeth Schutte (Senekal, S.A.) fired the first shot of the game off a penalty corner. The shot was blocked, however, and the Spartans gained momentum, taking the next five shots and earning a goal, as freshman Chantae Miller scored at the seven-minute mark. Sophomore Angela Pagura tallied the assist on the go-ahead goal.
Ohio kept the match tight, as MSU took their 1-0 lead into the half. The Spartans held slight edges in shots and penalty corners at the break, 5-3 and 2-1, respectively.
The two squads battled back and forth to start the second stanza, before Ohio evened the match at one all with Rachelle Coetzee's team-leading ninth goal of the season in the 54th minute. Junior Nina Bruno (Chevy Chase, Md.) sent in the penalty corner on which the 'Cats capitalized, while senior Nikki Gnozzio (Flanders, N.J.) garnered her team-best sixth assist of the year on the tally.
"We put in a new option today and Nikki fed the ball to Rachelle, who buried the ball in the goal. It was a very well executed corner," Ohio head coach Neil Macmillan said.
Neither team could break the deadlock in the remainder of regulation, despite the Spartans outshooting Ohio 11-2 in the second half. Senior goalie Jessie Martin (Louisville, Ky.) made five of her 10 saves in the second period.
The two squads both earned a penalty corner in the first overtime, but neither could capitalize, forcing a second overtime. With less than five minutes remaining in the second overtime, Miller scored off a penalty corner, her second goal of the match for the Spartans, to earn fourth-ranked MSU a 2-1 victory. Redshirt-sophomore Joelle van Ierland earned the assist on the game-winner.
Michigan State enjoyed a 23-5 advantage in shots during the match, while also holding an 11-4 edge in penalty corners. Rachelle's two shots, which paced Ohio, left her one shy of moving into fourth place on Ohio's career shots list.
The Bobcat defense limited a Spartan offense that averaged 4.36 goals per game entering the weekend (third nationally) to just two goals in over 96 minutes of action.
"We probably gave up too many shots, but Jessie made several key saves for us. She played more aggressively today than she has the past few games, which helped," Macmillan said. "I think our defense as a whole did a good job of following what the coaches put in place to try and make some changes out there and find some success."
Ohio dropped to 1-2 in double-overtime matches this year and 0-7 all-time against Michigan State. The match marked the fourth-straight season in which the Bobcats lost to the Spartans by merely a goal and the second year in a row they have fallen to MSU in overtime. Ohio moved to 4-5 in one-goal games on the season.
The Bobcats return to action tomorrow, as they continue their weekend tour of Michigan in Mt. Pleasant, taking on Central Michigan (3-10, 2-4 MAC) in a critical Mid-American Conference showdown. Game time is set for noon ET.
