Tasmin Cookman Records Goal, Assist in 4-0 Win vs. Michigan State

Sunday, August 27

Durham, N.H.

12 PM

University of New Hampshire

(2-0, 0-0)

Michigan State

(1-1, 0-0)

Michigan St.

New Hampshire

Photo by: Stu Horne

Tasmin Cookman Records Goal, Assist in 4-0 Win vs. Michigan State

8/27/2023 4:47:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – The goalkeeping tandem of Jemma Woods (Frimley, England) and Mariana Birdthistle (Limerick, Ireland) backboned the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Sunday afternoon's 4-0 victory against Michigan State University at Memorial Field.

Woods started and made six saves in 53 minutes, 30 seconds. Birdthistle played the final 6:30 and was credited with two saves.

Sophomore captain Tasmin Cookman (Woking, England) finished with a goal and an assist. Twin sister Tamera Cookman (Woking, England), classmate Nicole Poulakis (Ajax Ontario) and freshman Abigail Johnson (Lincoln University, Pa.) scored UNH's other goals.

MSU starting goalie Cecily Charles, who played the first and third quarters, made four saves and allowed three goals. Lyra Gavino stopped one of two shots on goal in playing the second and fourth quarters.

UNH improved to 2-0 and Michigan State is 1-1.

PHOTO GALLERY

UP NEXT

New Hampshire returns to action Sept. 1 (4 p.m.) at Ohio State University. The Wildcats also play at OSU against Ball State University on Sept. 3 (11 a.m.).
UNH's next home game is the America East conference opener Sept. 15 (2 p.m.) vs. Stanford University.

COACH'S QUOTE
"Obviously I'm very pleased with today and pleased with the weekend," UNH head coach Robin Balducci said. "We're a young team in a lot of spots and for us to solidify two victories, one being able to come back overtime and then today, Michigan State is a good team. They've got some very good players, really good midfield. For us to hold them scoreless and be able to put in four, I think it's exciting.

"We spread out the scoring. A lot of kids are contributing, which is really important. I come out of opening weekend feeling very good about the future of this program, and this season. For us to play two really good, tough, well-coached programs is an important step in what's to come."

"It's a credit to Tas (Cookman), Mera (Cookman) and Nicole (Poulakis) and their ability and they're such dynamic players. They have such great speed and their skill level is so high that, even when teams try to take them out of the play, they can find ways to still execute. It makes us dangerous in a lot of ways.

"When you have a good goalkeeping crew, young guys can play in front of them and do well because you've got that confidence. Jemma, obviously has been outstanding for us and Mariana adds a whole new dimension of quickness and athletic ability."

FIRST QUARTER

Michigan State controlled possession the opening four minutes of the game with five shots and two penalty corners in that time.
UNH converted its first corner of the game into a goal and 1-0 lead at 12:18. Senior captain Lindsay Lee (Eindhoven, Netherlands) inserted the ball to Tasmin Cookman, the stick-stop, and Tamera Cookman blasted a low shot through traffic inside the right post.
The Wildcats pressured the rest of the quarter with five shots – four of which were on goal – and another corner.

SECOND QUARTER

New Hampshire extended the lead to 2-0 midway through the second quarter. On a quick counterattack, Lily Rothwell (Lynnfield, Mass.) entered the circle down the right side. Her pass to the front of the right post was corralled by Kathelijne Knuttel (Groningen, Netherlands), who sent a reverse-stick shot wide of the far post. Poulakis ran onto the loose ball, however, and shot it into the open cage at 22:23.

THIRD QUARTER

Tasmin Cookman gave UNH a 3-0 lead 48 seconds into the second half when her hard shot from the right side went into the cage.
Johnson scored a carbon copy goal at 35:19 to push the advantage to 4-0.

FOURTH QUARTER

Michigan State recorded a 5-2 shot and advantage and 4-1 edge in penalty corner in the scoreless fourth quarter.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

MSU finished with a 24-18 shot advantage and 13-5 edge in penalty corners.
UNH had a 9-8 advantage in shots on goal.
The Spartans won their season opener 3-1 at Boston University on Friday with Emma O'Neill scoring all three goals; she was held to a pair of shots by UNH on Sunday.

UNH NOTEBOOK

The Cookman sisters combined to record half of the team's 18 shots.
Tasmin Cookman finished the season-opening weekend with three goals and an assist.
Tamera Cookman tallied two goals and an assist in the two games.
Knuttel recorded a point in both games with totals of one goal and an assist.
Lee is the other 'Cat who had a point in both games with an assist each game.

SERIES NOTEBOOK

New Hampshire has a 2-5 lifetime record against Michigan State.
The Wildcats also prevailed the previous time these teams met in 2011.
The Spartans had won each of the previous two meetings in Durham (1996 and 2008).