State gets second chance at 'M'

Halfway through the Big Ten season, the Michigan field hockey team finds itself in a very familiar place, tied with Penn State for first place in the conference.

With two victories last weekend over Northwestern and previously undefeated Iowa, the seventh-ranked Wolverines (4-1 Big Ten, 11-4 overall), who have won eight of their last nine, moved into a three-way tie with the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions for first place with five games left to play.

"It's been a goal of the team (to win the Big Ten title)," Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. "The last three years we have been first or second in the Big Ten. The season's only halfway over, though. There's still a ton of hockey left."

Michigan's strength this season has been its defense, not just in its half of the field but in the other team's as well. A focus on team defense and pressure by the Wolverines has forced play into the other team's half for the majority of games, cre

MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily The Michigan field hockey team gets a chance to keep its first-place ranking in the Big Ten this weekend.

ating chances for the offense.

But an inability to finish has left the games closer on the scoreboard than play on the field.

"I think our defense is solid. It is very experienced," Pankratz said. "We're still struggling a little bit on executing our corners and on finishing in the goal-scoring department. But so far we've been getting enough to win the game, and that's what's most important."

With a 5-1 victory Wednesday at Central Michigan, Michigan improved on some of its inconsistency around the net scoring its first two goals on corners.

But now the Wolverines must focus on a rematch with No. 15 Michigan State (1-4, 8-6) this Sunday at Ocker Field. Last time the two teams met, Michigan struggled with its corners, dominating the game but only converting on a corner once in nine tries.

"I hope that we've worked out a couple of kinks, and we're getting into a groove," Pankratz said. "I think that our corners look really good in practice and then for some reason they haven't been falling in the game."

Against the Spartans, the Wolverines must focus on two defending sophomore,s Marleen Tuip and Sanne van Nouhuys. The two have combined for 19 goals and 49 points in 14 games for Michigan State. Last week, Tuip was named the Big Ten offensive player of the week after recording a hat trick coupled with an assist against Northwestern.

"We just have to pay attention to what they do well and try to counter that," Pankratz said. "We try to match-up well with the players who we think will play well against them, and when you keep the ball away from them, that's important."

Although Michigan State has only one win in conference play, the Wolverines know that every team in the Big Ten has the potential to win on a given day and won't be looking past the Spartans to a rematch with Iowa next weekend.

10-15-99