NEXT LEVELPizano, Angeli teammates at Michigan State

When Michigan State opens the 2024 field hockey season the Spartans could have a pair of Wyoming Area graduates in the lineup.

Bianca Pizano is back for her sophomore season while Nina Angeli is entering her freshman year. Both are listed as forwards.

Pizano and Angeli join senior forward Jillian Bonczewski from Wyoming Valley West and sophomore midfielder Madison Lasinski from Lake-Lehman to make it four Wyoming Valley Conference graduates on the Big Ten team. Lower Dauphin, from the Hershey/Harrisburg area, has three players on the roster, making it the only other high school with multiple graduates on the squad.

Michigan State showed improvement late last season on the way to finishing 1-7 in the Big Ten and 4-12 overall.

Pizano was part of that improvement, making her first three college starts in the last three games of the season. The Spartans took winning teams to double overtime before falling in Pizano’s first two starts, then closed the season with a 4-0 victory over Ball State with the help of Pizano’s second goal.

The National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Academic Squad selection was named as the team’s Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player.

Pizano was the team’s most accurate shooter.

While averaging 21.5 minutes of playing time in her 14 appearances, Pizano put four of her seven shots on goal for the highest percentage (57.1) among the 15 Spartans who attempted more than one. Her two goals in seven shots was by far the best percentage (28.6) on the team.

Pizano scored on her first college shot, connecting in the second quarter of a 3-0 victory over Central Michigan in her sixth game.

Both players earned all-state honors while at Wyoming Area where they were teammates on the 2022 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A state finalists.