Then-junior forward Laura Heyboer fights for possession of the ball with Northwestern defenseman Ally Arca on Oct. 17 of last year. In a 3-2 loss Friday, Heyboer became the Spartans’ all-time leading scorer with her goal in the second half.
—Laura Heyboer stands alone at the top.
With her second-half break-away goal, the senior forward became MSU’s all-time leading goal scorer and secured her place as one of the elite in the history of the program. Unfortunately for the Spartans, Heyboer’s record-setting goal and a late MSU rally wasn’t enough to overcome an early deficit, as they would fall to UW-Milwaukee, 3-2.
“I watched them play live last week and we knew about (Panthers forward Sarah Hagen),” said women’s soccer head coach Tom Saxton. “We knew that we couldn’t give her any little room and unfortunately we made two misplays. … We put ourselves in a hole with bad plays in front of our box.”
The Spartans — who finished their 2010 season with a record of 9-6-4 overall including a record of 3-4-3 in the Big Ten — struggled to contain Preseason All-American forward Sarah Hagen and open their season on a sour note.
Milwaukee owned an early 2-0 lead, in large part to the duo of Hagen and midfielder Helen Steinhauser. Hagen assisted an early goal at 6:38 to Steinhauser to give the Panthers the 1-0 lead. Several minutes later, Steinhauser would return the favor as her corner kick would get headed in by Hagen to put MSU in the early hole.
Hagen would get on the board again in the 42nd minute, as she was fed the ball by midfielder Keara Thompson and notched it by the outstretched hands of senior goalkeeper Jill Flietstra.
“We came out a little flat in the first half,” Flietstra said. “The first 15 minutes, they punished us. We were fighting uphill for most of the game. It’s tough to win a game like that, when you go down 3-0 right away. I thought we showed good resilience but it was a tough loss.”
With the Spartans trailing in the second-half, the three-time All-American Heyboer did her part to get her team back in the game. In the 58th mintute, Heyboer broke away from several defenders at midfield and launched a goal to pull the team within two. The Spartans would tally another goal in the 89th minute from junior forward Olivia Stander — assisted by Heyboer — but it would not be enough to complete the comeback.
But the loss couldn’t take the record or the day away from Heyboer. With the 40th goal of her career, Heyboer becomes the all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the program, passing Michelle Wise (1986-89), who had 39 goals in her career. Heyboer’s assist to Stander also moved her within two points of Wise’s all time leading scoring record, which stands at 99.
“First, I wouldn’t be out here if it weren’t for God giving me these abilities and helping me get back on my feet after I broke my leg my sophomore year,” Heyboer said. “My teammates have done an outstanding job getting me here where I am. We’ve had so much depth and heart these past four years, I can’t do anything without them.”
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