The No. 13 MSU women’s soccer team picked up a big win when they beat No. 22 Penn State 3-2 in overtime Sunday at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field, but the Spartans also might have been dealt a huge loss.
With less than a minute remaining in regulation, senior midfielder Lauren Sinacola came up behind Penn State’s Maddy Evans to try to knock the ball away with a hard tackle near midfield, but after she slid she remained on the ground holding her left knee. After play was whistled dead, MSU athletic trainers and head coach Tom Saxton came out to the field and had to carry Sinacola back to the bench.
After the game, Saxton said he did not yet know the extent of the injury.
“I don’t really know the injury or the severity of it, but we’re just going to hope for the best and hope that we’ll get her back because she’s a huge part of our team,” Saxton said after the game.
Senior midfielder Megan Brown said she instantly knew something was wrong.
“When I heard her scream that’s when I knew it was bad,” Brown said. “She’s had injuries before, but she’s always been able to come out of them. But I heard her scream and it kind of freaked me out, because it did not sound good. We’ll just hope for the best, pray for her and see how it goes.”
As for whether Sinacola’s season — and career — could be over, Saxton said: “I don’t want to speculate on that. She’s at the doctor right now. It could be serious.”
The Spartans came out with extra fire in the overtime period after Sinacola’s injury, as sophomore forward Lauren Heyboer scored on a breakaway a little more than four minutes into overtime.
After Heyboer scored and the Spartans shortly celebrated on the field, they ran over to the sideline where Sinacola was sitting on the trainer’s cart.
“We were all out there celebrating and someone said, ‘let’s go over to the sideline and celebrate with those who couldn’t come,’” Brown said of the celebration.
Only midway through her senior season, Sinacola ranks as one of the best players in MSU history. She has 21 assists in three-plus seasons, tied for third-most in MSU history. She was named First-Team All-Big Ten a year ago, while also earning NSCAA/adidas All-Great Lakes Region Second Team.
On Sunday, she put the Spartans on the board in the first half with a header, her second goal of the season and 12th of her career.
“I think everybody was just disappointed for her,” Heyboer said. “She works so hard on and off the field. She’s the core of our team. She leads us on and off the field, so having a leader go down like that, it takes something inside all of us to just step it up for her.”
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