QUICK STRIKES FOR THE WEEK AHEAD ...
• Michigan State heads to Bloomington on Friday to take on Indiana in the Big Ten and regular-season finale for both squads.
• MSU split its final weekend of home games last weekend. MSU got a goal and an assist from Maddie Lawlor and the OT winner from freshman Carmen Pucheta in the 2-1 win over Iowa on Friday, and then a 17-save performance by Lyra Gavino on Sunday in a setback to No. 1 Northwestern.
• Kayla Bashore is in her sixth season as the head coach at Indiana. The Hoosiers are 8-8 on the season with Big Ten overtime victories over Rutgers and Iowa, and an upset win over Michigan last weekend in Ann Arbor. Ines Garcia Prado leads the squad in goals (8) and points (17), with Yip van Wonderen ranking second in both categories (6-2-14). Freshman Sadie Canelli ownds a 1.38 GAA and .768 save percentage.
• Michigan State has played a program-record seven overtime games this season, which ties the 2000 and 2014 squads with the most requiring extra time. The Spartans are now to 3-4 in overtime games this season, with three going to a second OT period and one advancing to a penalty shootout. The 2000 squad was 2-5 in extra time, and the 2014 team was 4-3.
• The Spartans have doubled their win total from a year ago (4) and have scored 33 goals through 17 games in 2024. The 2023 offensively-challenged Spartans scored 17 goals in 16 games combined.
• Two of the Big Ten's weekly honorees will be minding the goalcages in Friday's contest - Defensive Player of the Week Lyra Gavino, and Freshman of the Week, IU's Sadie Canelli.
: : : :Gavino made 10 saves in the Spartans' overtime win over Iowa last Friday, and then matched her career best of 17 saves against No. 1-ranked Northwestern on Sunday. Gavino has twice had 17 saves in a game this season, the highest total by a keeper in the B1G this season.
: : : :Canelli made five saves (and five more in the penalty shootout) in a penalty shootout loss to No. 3 Ohio State on Friday, and then made three saves in IU's upset of No. 7 Michigan on Sunday.
• With six players boasting double-digit points, it is the second-most in the last 10 years for MSU - the 2022 team had seven with 10 points or more. MSU has seven returning players who have established new career highs in goals, assists AND points (all three categories). Six players have either four or five goals.
• Sophomore keeper Lyra Gavino has three straight double-digit save performances - a 10-save performance in the 2-1 OT win over Iowa between a pair of 17-save outings against No. 16 Penn State and No. 1 Northwestern. She previously had 10 saves in an OT win against Miami on Oct. 1. Her 17 stops is tied for 10th most in a game this season among all Division I players and the most by a Big Ten keeper this season.
• Gavino owns a 2.00 GAA and .707 save percentage, both career bests. The sophomore ranks first among all Big Ten keepers in shots faced (252) and saves (97), and second overall in minutes played (997). Her 6.06 saves per game ranks 16th nationally.
: : : :In Conference games only, her league-leading 67 saves is nearly double Northwestern's Annabel Skubisz, who is second with 38. Her .779 save percentage in Conference games ranks third, and her shots faced (155) in B1G play is more than one-third more than Iowa's Mia Magnotta's 105.
• Emma O'Neill maintains the team's scoring lead (5-11-16, 13th B1G), with classmate Ellie Rutherford (4-6-14. T-18th) right behind. Rutherford leads the team in assists, while O'Neill shares the team's goal-scoring lead with classmate Maddie Lawlor (5-3-13) and sophomore Bianca Pizano. Those are career bests in all those categories for these Spartans.
• Freshmen Carmen Pucheta and Lilian Knorr are tied for fifth on the team in scoring, each with four goals and a pair of assists. Pucheta had goals against both Penn State and Iowa, with her goal against the Hawkeyes coming in OT to earn the win for MSU. MSU's eight game-winning goals this season have all come from different players.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
