After opening the weekend with a disappointment, the Spartans women’s soccer team returned Sunday with more intensity and resulted in a better outcome.
The MSU women’s soccer team (6-5-2 overall, 3-4-1 Big Ten) lost to Purdue 2-0 on Friday and beat Indiana 2-1 on Sunday.
The Spartans struck quickly against Indiana (6-4-1, 3-3-1).
After only five minutes of play, sophomore midfielder Trisha Kenny sent the ball down field to sophomore forward Tiffany Laskowski, who put the ball in the net.
Kenny also attacked the Indiana defense tenaciously in the second half, creating several opportunities because of her increased intensity, Kenny said.
“I always try to use my speed, because that’s really all I have,” she said. “I tried to go as hard as I could, and as fast, today.”
That intensity led to the Spartans second goal and Kenny’s second assist of the game.
Kenny’s shot bounced off Hoosier goalie Shaunna Daugherty’s hands and diverted to MSU sophomore forward Kristi Arrington, who kicked it in the net.
The tremendous effort of Kenny was a relief for head coach Tom Saxton. The team had scored only two goals in the previous four games.
“Sometimes you get a breakthrough game,” he said. “I challenged the kids yesterday to step up and make plays. People like Trisha Kenny really had a big game for us.”
Indiana’s lone goal came from midfielder Kelly Kram after sophomore goalkeeper Stacy Heller fell protecting the net. Midfielder Emily Hotz earned an assist on the goal.
“There were a lot of scary moments,” Saxton said. “But the defense has done well all year and they had a big game today.”
In contrast, Purdue beat the Spartans on Friday in the first 15 minutes of the game.
Within seven minutes, midfielder Lauren Sesselmann had scored the game-winning goal for the Boilermakers. She then added to the score 14 minutes into the game with a shot that ripped past Heller.
The rest of the game was a much more even matchup.
“I feel like we played right up to their level,” junior midfielder Libby Kelly said. “We just didn’t take the opportunity to put our chances away and that made a difference.”
Despite the outcome, Saxton said the score didn’t reflect the Spartan’s effort.
“I feel bad for our team because, other than that 10 minute letdown, I thought we did a really good job battling,” he said.
