According to MSU head coach Tom Saxton, everything fell into Wisconsin’s lap, such as three big injuries at midfield and 35 mph winds blowing the contest from an offensive shot fest to a defensive battle.

The first to slip up could find themselves on the losing end.

“The field was rock hard and that plays into a defensive game, and Wisconsin defended us very well and all credit to them, they deserved to win,” the 18-year program leader said. “They played better team defense than us and they locked up Laura (Heyboer) and Lo (Lauren Hill) very effectively.”

And to overcome the smothering defense on the team’s two best scoring threats down the stretch, Saxton knows exactly what to draw up.

Hill said no one should count her and her partner in crime out simply because the pressure is on them to perform in bigger, more important games.

“We’re just out there to prove ourselves every time and like I said, we had a tough loss and we’re going to bounce back from it,” Hill said.

Blending both

In Saxton’s arsenal, he knows he has other Spartans who can put the ball into the back of the net besides Heyboer and Hill.

Opening up opportunities for his team will be the game plan for this week’s practices.

“It is a little bit of both (physical and mental coaching) to get there,” Saxton said. “I think if we practice where we’re playing limited touches just so we have to share the ball and change the point of attack so a lot of people are getting into positions where they can threaten the opponents goal, we might do some of that this week.”

Hill said the most important key to keep in mind is never getting flustered with the way a team locks you down — keep fighting and find holes in the defense.

“You can’t get too ahead of yourself and you learn from your mistakes and we learn from the past but the important thing is to put it behind us and we move forward — it’s the next game we focus on,” she said.

Unsung, unfazed

This season, when the words “MSU soccer” have been uttered out of someone’s mouth, it seems as if the name “Laura Heyboer” came pouring out right after.

But according to one of her teammates, freshman defender Katelin Chaklos is not getting close to enough credit as she deserves.

“(She) stepped up and became a big impact on our back line,” junior midfielder Lauren Sinacola said. “She’s strong, she’s tough, she’s making those outside runs that a lot of defenders can’t make all game, but she does it every single game, all game.”

It’s come to the point that even Saxton admits he feels bad for not talking about her more, because of how valuable she’s been.

“She quite frankly has been overshadowed by Laura Heyboer in terms of our newcomers, but she is as good of a freshman back as we’ve ever had here,” Saxton said. “She is so tough defensively, but what really sets her apart is that she attacks up that left side so well — she’s an unsung hero.”