COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kenza Ashworth (Fr., Palo Alto, Calif.) scored seven times to claim Player of the Game status as No. 20-ranked/New England Division Champion Northeastern University built a one-goal lead just before halftime and outscored No. 8/Big Ten Division runner-up Michigan State University by a 7-5 count in the second half to claim a 12-9 victory in the final opening round game of the 2024 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Competing at Texas A&M University’s Student Rec Center, the first-time National Collegiate Club Championship qualifier Huskies overcame an early 2-0 deficit to overcome the Spartans and earn a spot in a quarterfinal showdown with No. 1/Big Ten Division Champion/defending National Champion the University of Michigan at 9:00 a.m. Central on Saturday, May 4.
Michigan State – which previously placed first (2001, 2002, 2006), second (2000, 2003), third (2005), fourth (2007), sixth (2004), ninth (2008) and 11th (2019) at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship – slips into the consolation side of the 16-team, 30-game championship. The Spartans will next be in action at 9:55 p.m. Central this evening in the final game of the day against Texas Division Third Place finisher which fell to Michigan by a 24-8 score in the first game of the morning.
Although Northeastern gained the victory, it was Michigan State that drew first blood in the contest as Sarah Koehler (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Namika Page (So., San Diego, Calif.) collared the Huskies with goals at the 5:34 and 3:21 marks of the first quarter to stake the Spartans to an early 2-0 margin.
Ashworth sliced a goal of Northeastern’s deficit prior to the conclusion of the first quarter as the first-year cashed in a man-up chance with 2:05 on the clock to move her squad within 2-1.
Koehler returned the lead to a pair at 3-1 by putting away a man-up strike with 4:05 left in the second quarter. The goal ignited a scoring spree over the remainder of the first half that turned the tide of the contest as Ashworth (3:51, man-up; 2:39, man-up; 19 seconds) notched three scores to a single tally by Mikaela Hulliberger (So., Chicago, Ill.) (3:06, man-up) to put the New England Division Champions in front 5-4 after 14 minutes of action.
Northeastern never trailed over the remainder of the contest as Huskies proved they could hunt by holding off the Spartans throughout the third and fourth quarters.
In the third quarter, Ashworth struck again by racking up her fourth man-up goal of the contest (4:16) to build the margin to a pair at 6-4. Nora Wagner (So., Chicago, Ill.) trimmed MSU’s deficit to 6-5 with 3:52 remaining in the frame, but back-to-back natural tallies from Anna Schlegel (So., Pottstown, Pa.) at 3:34 and 2:48 provided the Huskies a sizable 8-5 advantage on the scoreboard.
Adrianna Alcala (Fr., Rockford, Mich.) (28 seconds) and Ashworth (one second) capped off the scoring in the third quarter for Michigan State and Northeastern, respectively, to allow the Huskies to enter the final eight minutes of regulation clutching a 9-6 spread.
Koehler attempted to ignite a comeback for MSU by stroking in a shot at 6:19, but the Huskies bit back as Lelja Najarro (Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.) and Kayla McCleave (Fr.,Mission Viejo, Calif.) were unleashed to connect on shots at 5:33 and 4:16, respectively, to make it an 11-7 game.
Koehler again attempted to rally her squad by drilling in an even-strength opportunity at 4:01 to inch the Spartans within three at 11-8. The final differential did not change from there as Schlegel (3:17, man-up) and Alcala (3:03) traded goals down the stretch for the 12-9 final score.
For Michigan State, Koehler (four) and Alcala (two) posted multi-goal games to accompany solo scores from Wagner, Page and Hulliberger. Goalkeeper Grace Rivera (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico) stopped seven shots in taking the loss.
Ashworth (seven) and Schlegal (three) keyed the Northeastern offense by combining for 10 goals. Najarro and McCleave both tacked on single scores to add a 16-save performance by netminder Katie Kuyper (Jr., Waimea, Hawaii).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 8 Michigan State University |
2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | – | 9 |
| No. 20 Northeastern University | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | – | 12 |
| Northeastern Goals: | Kenza Ashworth (7); Anna Schlegel (3); Lejla Najarro; Kayla McCleave | |||||
| Michigan State Goals: | Sarah Koehler (4); Adrianna Alcala (2); Nora Wagner; Namika Page; Mikaela Hulliberger | |||||
| Saves: | Northeastern – Katie Kuyper (16) ; Michigan State – Grace Rivera (7) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Northeastern – 4 ; Michigan State – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Northeastern – 5-for-6 ; Michigan State – 2-for-4 | |||||
| Sprints: | Northeastern – 4-for-4 ; Michigan State – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Michigan State (Head coach Ali Kraft) | |||||
| Officials: | Jennifer Frain, Philippe Knall | |||||
Michigan State University’s Sarah Koehler (#5) attempts to get a shot past Northeastern University’s Kenza Ashworth (#4)
Michigan State University’s Sabrina Ross (#3) ties up Northeastern University’s Kayla McCleave (#11)
Northeastern University’s Kenza Ashworth (#4) defends Michigan State University’s Sarah Koehler (#5)
Northeastern University’s Avery Emison (#6) lobs a shots as Michigan State University’s Namika Page (#7) closes
