QUICK STRIKES FOR THE WEEK AHEAD ...
• Michigan State hosts its final two games at Ralph Young Field this season, welcoming Iowa and No. 1 Northwestern to East Lansing for Big Ten Contests.
• Lisa Cellucci is in her 11th season as the head coach of the Hawkeyes, and has been on staff for 25 years following a standout career as a goalkeeper for the Hawkeyes. No. 17 Iowa won back-to-back games last weekend after dropping its previous three, two in overtime. Dionne van Aalsum leads the Hawkeye offensive attack with eight goals, with Annika Herbine the team's assist leader (7) and is tied for second in goals with Lieve van Kessel (3). Mia Magnotta has played all 14 games for Iowa, with a .760 GAA and 1.18 GAA.
• Northwestern comes into Sunday's game after a showdown with No. 7 Michigan on Friday afternoon in Ann Arbor. Tracy Fuchs has guided the Wildcats for 16 seasons, including back-to-back title game appearances in 2021 and 2022, capturing the NCAA title in 2021. The Wildcats rolled through their first 15 games undefeated, allowing nine total goals - including non-conference victories over Stanford (7-0) and UC-Davis (11-1) last weekend in Evanston. Ashley Sessa took over the Big Ten scoring lead after last weekend's victories, with 17 goals and 45 points. Ilse Tromp (6-6-18) and Maddie Zimmer (8-5-17) also rank seventh and eighth among Big Ten scorers. Annabel Skubisz leads the Conference with a 0.48 GAA and .891 save percentage.
• MSU went on the road and dropped a pair of tough decisions at Rutgers (2-0) and in overtime at No. 16 Penn State (2-1). The Spartans fell to 0-5 in Big Ten play with the results, with three games remaining on the docket.
• The Spartans fell to 2-4 in overtime games this season, with three going to a second OT period and one advancing to a penalty shootout.
• The Spartans have surpassed their win total from a year ago (4) and have scored 31 goals through 15 games in 2024. The 2023 offensively-challenged Spartans scored 17 goals in 16 games combined.
• With five players boasting double-digit points, it is tied for second-most in the last 10 years - the 2015 team also had five in double figures, and the 2022 team had seven. MSU has seven returning players who have established new career highs in goals, assists AND points (all three categories). Five players have either four or five goals.
• Sophomore keeper Lyra Gavino was the story of last weekend - after a five-save performance in a 2-0 loss at Rutgers, she came back with a career-high 17 saves on Sunday in the 2-1 OT loss to Penn State. Gavino made six saves in both the third quarter and the OT period, and withstood 18 penalty corner attempts by the Nittany Lions. She has three double-digit save performances this season.
• Gavino owns a 2.00 GAA and .707 save percentage, both career bests. She leads the Big Ten in saves (70) and is 25th nationally in saves per game (5.00).
• Emma O'Neill maintains the team's scoring lead (5-10-15, 11th B1G), with classmate Ellie Rutherford (4-6-14. T-14th B1G) right behind. Rutherford leads the team in assists, while O'Neill shares the team's goal-scoring lead with sophomore Bianca Pizano. Those are career bests in all those categories for these Spartans.
• Maddie Lawlor and Jillian Bonczewski have joined O'Neill and Rutherford with career-best offensive seasons. Lawlor, who returned to the lineup this year after battling injury in her first three seasons, ownsd a 4-2-10 scoring line. Bonczewski has contributed three goals and two assists (eight points). Each of the seniors entered the season with just one career goal.
• Freshman Lilian Knorr has four goals and a pair of assists on the season to put her into double figures (10 points). Classmate Carmen Pucheta, with her goal last Sunday at Penn State, has a 3-2-8 line. The pair rank fifth and sixth on the team in scoring.
• MSU has one remaining game on the regular-season schedule, next Friday at Indiana.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
