“Despite the disappointing (1-0) loss to Wisconsin (Friday), I do think we made some progress with those new faces last weekend, in general,” Saxton said. “I think there’s some people getting more comfortable in their roles, like (sophomore midfielder) Megan Pines and … (sophomore midfielder) Mikki Dennis.”

Looking ahead to a weekend trip to Illinois and Iowa, Saxton mentioned two other freshmen — midfielder Chelsea Peterson and defender Desiree Aber — who could fill the spots vacated by freshman midfielder Jordan Mueller, senior midfielders Lauren Sinacola and Kate Rehor (anterior cruciate ligament) and sophomore forward Laura Heyboer (broken left leg).

Although some veterans admitted it’s tough shifting players around this late in the season, each admitted the moves have been easy because of the type of players coming into the lineup. Senior forward Lauren Hill said she believes the time on the bench has helped young players grasp the game more quickly.

“(The time from) when you don’t play to when you play, you see a lot more soccer,” Hill said. “You get to experience it and watch it, and I think they learn from that. They paid attention during games so that when they got out there they knew what they needed to do.”

Players meeting positive

After the Wisconsin loss, seniors Megan Brown, Danielle Petri, Hill, Rehor and Sinacola called a players meeting Saturday to make sure the team’s mindset was in order.

Aside from posting a 2-1 win against Minnesota on Sunday, Brown also was impressed with how the team played.

“Everybody responded and came out with the passion we’ve been looking for in the last few games,” Brown said. “I think it’s something that we’re going to need to be successful is to really have that passion and that drive to score goals and defend and everything we need to do to win.”

Tibia surgery ‘successful’

Dr. Mike Shingles and the MSU medical staff performed successful surgery on Heyboer’s broken left tibia Sunday evening, and the sophomore forward was discharged from the hospital Tuesday morning, Saxton said.

Saxton said normal recovery for the procedure is three to six months, but expects Heyboer to bounce back quickly.

“Six months is the worst-case scenario. I couldn’t imagine it going that long for a youngster like that,” Saxton said, adding Heyboer has already walked lightly. “She’s in good spirits and we saw her this morning. … Despite the tragic injury, it’s been handled the best it could be and, again, I have full confidence in her full recovery. She’s got the right mindset about it, which makes us happy.”