The Spartans remained in control for the rest of the half, heading into the break with a 2-0 lead. The Orange played the Spartans much tougher in the second half and finally broke through in the 80th minute as Syracuse forward Megan Bellingham scored a goal off the cross bar to cut MSU’s lead to 2-1. The Spartans managed to hold off the late rally by the Orange and preserve their first win of the season.

“We were a little nervous,” Sinacola said of the final minutes. “We tried to look for more balls in the corner so we could just sit back and defend so they wouldn’t get another one.”

Friday’s loss was on the minds of the players and head coach Tom Saxton as MSU suited up for Sunday’s game, and they used their loss as motivation to get out to a quick start.

“We needed to come hard, and it was really important for us to get the early goals we did because we needed the confidence,” Sinacola said. “We just want to have a better season than the last year, so any win we get is just going to bring us higher and higher and make us work harder and harder.”

Saxton agreed the quick start was a nice cushion, especially since the Spartans struggled with passing choices and turnovers late in the game.

“When you get that lead, we have to play more direct instead of just trying to dink passes together,” Saxton said. “Their goal and a couple more of their good chances came off turnovers in the middle third and that was disappointing and that’s something we’re going to have to fix.”

Sinacola named Big Ten Player of the Week

Sinacola was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week for her two goals in Sunday’s game against Syracuse. It’s the first such award for the sophomore midfielder from Rochester, Mich., who was named to last season’s Big Ten All-Freshman team.