The MSU women's soccer team finished nonconference play with a 5-1 defeat of Western Michigan on Sunday.
Despite the strong offensive display, head coach Tom Saxton said his team still lacks consistency heading into the Big Ten season.
"We did a great job on the offensive end, but I thought we're still trying to use consistency as the theme and I would not tell you for a second that that was a consistent performance," Saxton said. "There were things in there that none of us were happy about as a team."
The frowned-on events included: Effortless play at midfield, where several Western players beat MSU to the ball, winning 50-50 balls over a team that prides itself in its ability to control those situations. But MSU showed perseverance when a 2-0 halftime lead nearly turned to disaster after Western forward Jessica Pattison notched an unassisted goal in the game's 61st minute.
MSU didn't fret as junior midfielder Abby Shepherd added one off a corner kick in the 65th minute for a 3-1 lead and control of the game.
"We talked about at halftime when you're up 2-0, whoever gets the next goal takes control - emotional control of the game," Saxton said. "Well, they get back in it with a mistake there and, honestly, on another day, I could have seen us just hanging on for dear life or even giving up a second goal, but I credit our seniors - our veterans.
"We scored a great goal and once that third one went in we made it tough for them."
Sophomore midfielder Erin Konheim scored the next goal off assists from sophomore forward Emma Harris and senior midfielder Tiffany Laskowski, while freshman forward Heather Riley aced the final strike off sophomore forward/midfielder Dana Voorheis' assist.
In the first half, a penalty kick in the 31st minute was turned into a scoring chance when sophomore defensive midfielder Nina Mastracci passed to Konheimin the left corner of the field. It set up a lob pass in front of the goal for a Harris header and a 1-0 lead.
The second strike of the half was achieved with a little homework. From about 45 yards out, junior defender Emily Carbott saw that Western goalkeeper Kate Perz left an opening in the net and she launched the unassisted goal in to go up two.
"We did talk about that because Perz is very good, but she sweeps her defense way off her line, so we said if anybody gets a peek at the goal, literally crack it - and we caught her backpedaling," Saxton said. "We used the scouting report well and that's a credit to the players."
Up next for the Spartans is a trip to the state of Illinois to play Northwestern and Illinois on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
With a 4-1 record in nonconference games, Saxton said his team is where he imagined it would be.
"We got through the pre-Big Ten season about where I expected to be and now it's time to play the Big Ten battles," Saxton said. "They're going to be a big step above."
