The women’s soccer team came out of the gate slowly, but the Spartans scored three goals in the second half to post a 4-0 victory over Detroit (4-7-4) on Sunday.
“The biggest concern we had was that with this game being played in the middle of the Big Ten season, we didn’t come out flat,” MSU head coach Tom Saxton said. “I don’t think we did a good job finishing our chances early, but obviously we turned that around the second half and it ended up a good day.”
Despite controlling the ball and mustering 10 shots on goal in the first half, MSU (11-4-1 overall, 5-3-1 Big Ten) capitalized on just one opportunity. Senior midfielder Heidi Lutz had the Spartans’ solitary score, finding the back of the net on passes from sophomore defender Emily Carbott and freshman forward Emma Harris less than 14 minutes into the match.
MSU came back from the break on fire, converting three of its next 10 shots into goals, en route to the 4-0 victory.
Junior goalkeeper Stacy Heller gave credit to Saxton for the Spartans’ change of heart.
“Coach gave us a little pep talk at halftime and told us we had to get hungry in front of the net,” Heller said. “We were playing Spartan soccer, but we just had to finish.”
Sophomore midfielder Abby Shepherd got the ball rolling after the break, blasting a shot past Titan goalkeeper Alisson Dubé at 59:06.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Spartans struck again, this time off a shot from junior midfielder Michelle Perun, assisted by senior defender Amy Allen.
Freshman forward Dana Voorheis finished things up for MSU, earning the first tally of her collegiate career at 72:00.
The Spartans outshot the Titans 20-6 in the match, and Heller earned her sixth shutout of the season.
“Our defense is just awesome,” Heller said. “We have people healthy again and we had a chance to get some other people in there.
“It feels great to be back here at home again.”
On Friday, the Spartans played to a 1-1 tie against Northwestern (4-8-3, 2-6-2) in Evanston, Ill.
MSU junior forward Tiffany Laskowski recorded the lone goal of the first half on a pass from sophomore midfielder Abby Shepherd to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead at the 20:45 mark.
The Wildcats wasted little time tying the match after the break when defender Molly Greene caught the rebound off a penalty kick and booted it past junior goalkeeper Stacy Heller.
The game remained deadlocked through two overtimes as well as a round of free kicks as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Heller played stellar defense between the posts, tallying nine saves and allowing the Wildcats just one goal despite being peppered with 20 shots.
MSU returns to Old College Field for its final home game Friday against the No. 13 Michigan Wolverines (12-4, 7-2). Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
Men’s soccer
The men’s soccer team (9-5, 3-2) pulled out a 1-0 victory over Penn State Sunday.
In a battle that remained scoreless for the first 75 minutes, until junior midfielder Nick DeGraw headed a cross from junior defender Kevin Wittig between the posts at 75:25 to lift MSU to victory.
The Nittany Lions drop to 9-7, 3-3 with the loss.
The Spartans travel to Western Michigan (3-8-2) next for a 3 p.m. Friday match before returning home Sunday for their final home game against Wisconsin (7-8, 1-3).
