Facing No. 16 Illinois on Friday. the MSU women’s soccer team found themselves in a situation they have not been in for exactly one year and four days.
The last time the Spartans allowed the opponent to score a goal at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field was Oct. 25, 2009, in a 2-1 win over Minnesota. That changed early Friday against the Fighting Illini, who put a score on the board in just five minutes.
Trying to keep their nine-match unbeaten steak alive, MSU fought until the final whistle but were unable to get anything going offensively, losing 1-0.
The Illinois defense held junior forward Laura Heyboer without a shot throughout the full 90 minutes. The team was held to just five shots overall.
“Illinois pretty much outplayed us in all phases of the game and I was disappointed,” MSU head coach Tom Saxton said. “I told the team I don’t know if it was the way we prepared them this week, but that was not a Michigan State soccer performance.”
Junior goalkeeper Jill Flietstra suffered a broken finger against Minnesota last Sunday, but decided to play anyway.
“We had a plan in place, with the doctors support, to give her a chance,” he said. “She played two-thirds of the game against Minnesota and did very well, and actually spectacular at times. We all thought we’d give her the opportunity to go again.”
Flietstra removed herself from the game at halftime and Saxton said it’s unclear whether shewill play in the team’s final game at DeMartin Stadium on Sunday.
If the team wants to have any hope of getting into the postseason, they have to treat their final two games as playoff matches, Saxton said.
“If we’re fortunate enough to get a win against Iowa on Sunday then it will certainly be a playoff game against Ohio State next weekend,” he said.
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