First Day of Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Wraps Up with Michigan State's 2-1 win Over Indiana - BIG TEN CONFERENCE Official Athletic Site

First Day of Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Wraps Up with Michigan State's 2-1 win Over Indiana

Michigan State advances to tournament semifinals.

	Michigan State advanced to the semifinals where they will play Iowa, who defeated Northwestern in the opening game.

Nov. 5, 2004

Evanston, IL - The first day of the Big Ten Conference Field Hockey Tournament ended the same way it began, with a match that went down to the final minutes. Indiana fought with Michigan State till the final minutes but in the end fell just short, falling 2-1 to the third seeded Spartans.

Michigan State improves to 16-2 overall and advances to the tournament semifinals to face the second seeded Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, November 6^th, here at the Leonard B. Thomas Sports Complex. Indiana ends their season at 12-8.

Both teams got on the board early in the game. With 5:34 gone in the first half Indiana had their first penalty corner opportunity and was able to convert. Sophomore forward and Big Ten All-Conference second team selection Lydia Schrott pushed the ball in to freshman midfielder Meredith Brown. Brown took aim at the goal and fired. Sophomore defender Morgan Miller was in front and tipped the ball past junior goaltender and Big Ten All-Conference second team selection Christina Kirkaldy to give Indiana the 1-0 early lead.

The Hoosier's lead wasn't safe for long however. Just three minutes later with 8:52 off the scoreboard Michigan State converted a penalty corner into a goal to tie the game. Junior forward Michelle Huynh-Ba hit the back of the net for the score, beating senior goalie Katie Kanara. Huynh-Ba is a member of the 2004 Big Ten All-Conference second team.

At 20:22 into the first stanza, Michigan State senior forward Veerle Goudswaard broke away from the Indiana defense and netted the go-ahead goal for the Spartans. The tally was Goudswaard's 27^th of the year to lead the Big Ten and givers her 58 points to also lead the league. Entering the day, the unanimous Big Ten All-Conference first team selection was also tops in the country in goals.

The second half started out as a back-and-forth contest which had some close shots. A Michigan State shot from inside the circle clanged off the post 10:10 into the second half, just missing the net by a few inches. Indiana countered with a scoring chance at mid-way through the second, but a sprawling Kirkaldy kept the Spartans on top with a diving save.

With less than one minute remaining in regulation Indiana was awarded a penalty corner and given a chance to tie the game and force overtime. The Hoosier's got off a fierce barrage of shots directly in front of the net but, Kiraldy was able to deflect the flury and hold on to the game for MSU.