Box Score
LOUISVILLE – A career-high 11 saves from freshman goalkeeper
Becky Garner, including seven in the first half, was not enough as Michigan State (3-5) scored late in the first half before adding an insurance marker in the second to down the Northeastern field hockey team (3-3) on Friday afternoon at Trager Stadium, 2-0.
MSU held an 18-4 edge in shots during the game, including a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Spartans received two saves from Molly Cassidy and earned seven corners to Northeastern's five.
The Spartans were firing on all cylinders during the first half, peppering the Huskies with 11 shots, including eight on goal. Garner and the NU defense, however, stood tall and kept Michigan State at bay for much of the opening 35 minutes.
Both teams earned consecutive corner opportunities early in the match but could not capitalize on the scoring bids. MSU generated six shots off corners while the Huskies had all three of their first-half shots off of corners.
Garner continued to stymie the Spartans as the first half wore on, making seven stops. Michigan State would break through with less than two minutes to play in the first half when Allie Ahern netted her first goal of the season when she took a feed from Mallory Tyler from the side of the cage before beating Garner for the score.
The teams faced nearly a 20-minute weather delay two minutes after the second half began, but Michigan State picked up right where it left off after the resumption of play with a goal from Kristen Henn. After MSU earned its sixth corner of the afternoon, Jenni Smith took a hard shot from atop the circle that Henn was able to get a stick on and redirect past Garner for the score.
NU tried to cut into the deficit coming out of a timeout with 24:45 left in regulation when
Jessica Unger fired a shot on goal off a corner from
Lindsay Bennett, but Cassidy was able to make the save, sending the Spartans the other way.
The Huskies will be back in action on Sunday when Northeastern plays No. 19 Louisville at 1:30 p.m.
.
