 "Photo: Troy Wine")
The No. 9 Ohio State field hockey team earned the third seed in the 2005 Big Ten tournament Friday through Sunday at Grant Field in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Buckeyes compiled a 14-5 regular season record and finished 3-3 in conference play to earn the third seed.
Six of the seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 15 nationally, which helped contribute to OSU's even conference record.
"This year the Big Ten was a very competitive conference," junior back Florencia Stier said.
The top seed and a first round bye went to No. 6 Penn State. The Nittany Lions finished the season with a 16-1 record and won their fourth Big Ten title with a 6-0 record in conference games. PSU is the No. 1 seed in the tournament for the first time since 1998.
No. 11 Michigan (12-7, 3-3 Big Ten) is the defending tournament champion and the fourth seed in this year's tournament.
The Buckeyes play No. 15 Michigan State (12-4, 2-4 Big Ten) in the first round Friday. The game is a rematch of the Buckeyes final regular season game. OSU lost that game 3-2 in East Lansing, Mich. this past Saturday.
"We are really excited about facing them," junior forward Lauren Kruse said. "We are able to get back at them. Now it's our turn."
The Buckeyes trailed at the half 3-1, giving up a goal to sophomore midfielder Amy Schneider and two goals to senior forward Michelle Huynh-Ba.
"I think that we learned that we can't wait until the last minutes to play hard," Stier said.
Senior forward Leticia Fragapane scored her 10th goal of the year off an assist from freshman midfielder Linda Haussener to pull the Buckeyes within one, but it was as close as OSU would get.
"We learned to just follow the game plan, to keep believing and trusting in our system," Stier said.
Senior goalie Christina Kirkaldy made eight saves for MSU, and senior goalie Lindsay Williams had three saves for the Buckeyes.
"Their goalkeeper is excellent at making the first save," coach Anne Wilkinson said. "We have to score on our second and third attempts. We need to find the open people."
OSU outshot the Spartans 14-7 in the game, including 6-0 in the second half. The Buckeyes had a 7-1 advantage in penalty corners.
"With the amount of shots we've taken, we've learned that taking 26 shots and scoring three goals isn't always a good thing," Wilkinson said. "We have to take advantage of our opportunities. Each opportunity is important."
If the Buckeyes advance to the second round, they play the winner of the match between No. 2 seed Indiana (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) and No. 7 seed Northwestern (7-11, 0-6 Big Ten) Saturday.
The Buckeyes defeated the Wildcats 3-2 Oct. 1 and lost to the Hoosiers 2-1 in double overtime Oct. 14.
The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
"It's anybody's tournament," Kruse said. "Everyone has a chance."
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