East Lansing was buzzing with electricity Thursday night with floodlights humming noisily while working to illuminate the pitch for the first night game at Old College Field in the 46-year history of MSU soccer.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, the event went out on a sour note as they were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament in the first round after falling 1-0 to Wisconsin.
Freshman midfielder Erin Konheim said taking part in the night game was memorable for her and the team, regardless of the outcome.
“It gave a spark to everybody. Everyone was really excited,” she said. “It was Michigan State’s first night game ever on Old College Field. It was pretty exciting for me as a freshman to come in and play and experience it.”
Rick Atkinson, MSU event manager and director of the 2002 Women’s Big Ten Soccer Tournament, was in charge of the event. The game drew nearly 1,000 people despite cold weather.
Atkinson put in long hours figuring out positioning and angles of lights and paying special attention to the goalkeeper’s area, where the lights were angled toward the ground to prevent blinding the netminders.
“I give credit to Rick. This whole thing was his idea, and he really made all of this work,” Spartan head coach Tom Saxton said. “I think the whole thing turned out great. We had a great crowd come out and it was really exciting for our kids.
“Even though they walked out disappointed, I think it’s an experience they’ll remember for a long time.”
Even Badger midfielder Katy Lindenmuth was impressed with the lighting. Lindenmuth enjoys permanent lighting at Wisconsin’s home field.
“The lights were great,” Lindenmuth said. “I lost the ball in the lights a couple of times, but that’s pretty standard with any lights on the field. It happens at home a lot, too.”
She added the excitement that comes with a night game can’t be beat and noted the high energy in Thursday’s matchup.
The game went back and forth with MSU finding its best scoring opportunity during the first eight minutes of the game.
Amidst a horde of red-clad Badgers, Konheim let loose a line drive at Wisconsin goalkeeper Kelly Conway, who tipped it up, causing it to bounce off the crossbar and narrowly miss the net.
Konheim had another opportunity to score at 17:35, facing Conway one-on-one, but the Wisconsin goalkeeper pounced on the ball to stop the shot.
The game remained deadlocked until junior goalkeeper Stacy Heller fell while trying to save the ball, leaving the goal unguarded. Badger midfielder Amy Vermeulen maneuvered around Heller and tapped in the game-winner at 52:13.
As the lights shine on the Spartan’s home field, the future of the MSU soccer squad this season remains in the shadows. The NCAA selection committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday to honor 64 teams across the country with an NCAA Tournament bid, something Heller remains positive about despite her team’s first-round loss.
“Hopefully it goes our way. We had a good season.” Heller said. “Whether we make it or not, this season will be easy to build off of, and we’ll come back stronger next year.”
Dawn Klemish can be reached at klemishd@msu.edu.
