Ohio State senior forward Morgan Kile fights for the ball during the Buckeyes’ 1-0 loss to Michigan on Sept. 22. Credit: Colin Hass-Hill | Sports Editor
Michigan State’s field hockey team (6-5, 1-1 Big Ten) handed Ohio State (4-5, 0-3 Big Ten) its second-straight post-regulation loss as the Spartans won 2-1 in a six-round shootout after two scoreless overtime periods Sunday afternoon at Buckeye Varsity Field.
Ohio State took seven shot attempts in the shootout, sinking two on shots from backs Maartje Bongers and Juliette Duquesne, but lost to the Spartans as back Simone Vagnoni found the back of the net in the seventh round.
With every Big Ten game ending in overtime, Martin said the team is making strides, but just needs to improve on its ability to finish in games.
“The girls play so hard, that’s what makes these losses tough,” head coach Jarred Martin said. “They know they can compete with anyone, but it comes with an effort and attitude to execute.”
The first half was uneventful with only nine shot attempts by both teams.
“We really weren’t following any of the game plan,” Martin said. “I thought we were going through the motions a bit, and we needed to bring a little more execution to the field, which I thought we did. As the game went on, we got better and better.”
Senior forward/midfielder Maddy Humphrey had three of Ohio State’s six shots on goal in the first period, while the Buckeye defense held the Spartans to only three shots. Humphrey leads Ohio State with a .400 shot percentage and six goals this season.
Michigan State scored the first goal of the game when senior forward Sophie Macadre scored off a rebound on a penalty corner just over five minutes into the second half.
Michigan State began to control the game offensively, outshooting Ohio State 11-5 in the second period and was awarded 10 corners to the Buckeyes’ four.
With 7:70 remaining in the second period, Bongers scored the equalizer off a penalty corner assisted by Humphrey and junior back Hannah Pany.
“We just needed to find a spark, and once we found it, we kept that momentum going,” Martin said.
After the full 70 minutes were completed, the 1-1 game went into overtime.
Ohio State had one shot on goal during the first overtime period, but after neither team scored, the game went to a second overtime..
The Buckeyes used a continual cycle of substitutions to remain fresh through two overtime periods.
“Michigan State is a pretty good team, so the rotations allowed us to keep an aggressive mindset for as long as we could, get breaks when we needed them and get right back on the field,” said Martin.
Despite the Buckeyes outshooting the Spartans 6-1 in the second overtime, neither team could pull off a goal and the game was sent to a shootout.
During the shootout, Ohio State stormed out of the gate with a quick goal from Bongers. After back-to-back misses from players on each team, the Spartans and Buckeyes scored three straight goals to tie the shootout at two. Six missed shot attempts later, Vagnoni found the back of the net to give Michigan State the 3-2 shootout advantage. A missed shot by Bongers ended the match and gave the Spartans the 2-1 victory.
The Buckeyes will travel to Davis, California, to compete against Stanford Saturday at noon.
