UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Nov. 9, 2003) - The Penn State field hockey team fell behind early as Michigan State scored three goals in the first 10 minutes to defeat the Nittany Lions 5-3 in the Big Ten Tournament championship game Sunday at Bigler Field.

Penn State rallied for three unanswered goals in the second half and it missed a chance to move within one goal with 6:03 remaining when a Penn State player shot just wide of the cage. But the Nittany Lions couldn't get the fourth and fifth goals to tie the game.

The Spartans capture their second straight conference tournament title and the automatic bid into the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. Penn State awaits to see if it will be chosen as one of the tournament's 16 teams during the selection show, 8 p.m. Tuesday. The selection show can be followed at www.NCAAsports.com.

Penn State played a long and physical game in Saturday's thrilling 1-0 overtime victory over Michigan in a semifinal game. Michigan State capitalized on the Nittany Lions' tired legs early in the game as they scored three times in the first 10 minutes of the game.

Veerle Goudswaard put the Spartans on top 1-0 just 1 minute, 46 seconds into the contest after Breanna Harpstead sent a pass off a penalty corner to Annebet Beerman, who fed Goudswaard with a pass to the left side of the circle.

Michigan State struck again at 7:42 off another penalty corner. Beerman shot through traffic and Alexandra Kyser deflected the shot past goalkeeper Annie Zinkavich (Kingston, Pa.). Kyser was selected as the tournament's MVP with three goals in three games. Michelle Huynh-Ba forced Penn State to call a timeout when she gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead at 9:52 on a shot from the right of Zinkavich that hit the back-right side of the cage.

"Obviously, you can't go down 3-0 with the level of competition that we are playing now," said Penn State head coach Char Morett. "Their corners were very, very strong. They did a great job executing them. We can't give away those opportunities."

Michigan State held an 11-2 advantage in shots and a 6-2 advantage in penalty corners with a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game against Penn State," said Michigan State head coach Michele Madison. "They are a great team. We knew we had to jump on them early and that would be our only chance to take the game and try to get the emotional lead first. We wanted to hold onto that as long as we did. They staged big, big comeback and we knew they were capable of that. They put us on our heels for a couple of minutes, but we overcame that and got the job done."

Goudswaard made it 4-0 at 50:45 with her second goal of the game. She hit the right corner of the cage off a pass from Beerman. Jessica Miller also received an assist on the play.

Beerman finished with three assists in the game, which ties a Big Ten Tournament single-game record. She had five assists in the tournament, which also ties a Big Ten Tournament record.

It appeared Michigan State put the game away with a fifth goal with 24:03 remaining in the game. Huynh-Ba notched her second goal of the game and third of the tournament to make it 5-0.

But the Nittany Lions came storming back with three goals in nine minutes. Senior Timarie Legel (Morgantown, Pa.), as she did in Saturday's win, put out another great individual effort to bring Penn State back into the game. She ended Christina Kirkaldy's shutout bid with 21:16 remaining to make it 5-1.

Senior Heather Conroy (Duncannon, Pa.) fed sophomore Sara Cahill (Virginia Beach, Va.) at the opposite corner of the cage with 16:51 left for an easy goal to make it 5-2.

Then Legel dribbled through a crowd of Michigan State defenders on her way to another goal with 12:40 remaining in the game to give Penn State a shot at the comeback.

"It was 5-0 at one point and I thought we did a great job fighting back," Conroy said. "We almost scored our fourth goal with four minutes to go. That would have just been crazy. It would have been awesome if we could have put that away. But I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. There's a reason Michigan State won today. Maybe we'll see them in the regionals next weekend. You never know. We'll find out Tuesday night."

Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament (Sunday at Bigler Field) No. 2 Michigan State 5 No. 4 Penn State 3 First-half Scoring 1. Veerle Goudswaard, MSU, (Breanna Harpstead, Annebet Beerman) 1:46; 2. Alexandra Kyser, MSU, (Annebet Beerman) 7:42; 3. Michelle Huynh-Ba, MSU, (unassisted) 9:52. Second-half Scoring 4. Veerle Goudswaard, MSU, (Jessica Miller, Annebet Beerman) 40:50; 5. Michelle Huynh-Ba, MSU, (Veerle Goudswaard, Jessica Miller) 45:47; 6. Timarie Legel, PSU, (unassisted) 48:44; 7. Sara Cahill, PSU, (Heather Conroy) 53:09; 8. Timarie Legel, PSU, (unassisted) 57:20. Shots: PSU - 14; MSU - 14. Saves: PSU - 6 (Annie Zinkavich); MSU - 5 (Christina Kirkaldy). Corners: PSU - 7; MSU - 10. Records: PSU - 17-6, 3-3; MSU - 16-4, 5-1. Next game: Both teams await the NCAA selection show for the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. Michigan State receives automatic bid to the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. TOURNAMENT MVP: Alexandra Kyser, MSU Big Ten Field Hockey All-Tournament Team Lydia Schrott, IU Lauren Striver, Iowa Diane Provencher, NU Kristi Gannon, MICH April Fronzoni, MICH Saskia Mueller, OSU Curlyne Wynn, OSU Timarie Legel, PSU Neilye Stoner, PSU Christina Kirkaldy, MSU Jessica Miller, MSU Alexandra Kyser, MSU.