A season that once held so much promise for the MSU women’s soccer team now is in need of saving.
With just five games remaining on the Big Ten slate, the Spartans (7-5-2 overall, 1-5-0 Big Ten) sit tied for last place in the Big Ten with Northwestern (3-9-2, 1-5-0) and are five points behind the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament.
Don’t count the Spartans out yet, because three of their remaining five opponents feature teams in the bottom half of the conference, but they need to step up their play, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
The team currently is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, and only has scored twice on 35 shots during that stretch. MSU has struggled getting shots all season, sitting in last place in the conference in shots taken. Head coach Tom Saxton has said his team needs to work on finishing shots all season.
The Spartans’ offense was able to succeed against non-conference teams, but has been foiled by tough and physical Big Ten defenses.
One bright spot on the Spartan offense thus far this season has been sophomore defender Mary Kathryn Fiebernitz.
Fiebernitz leads MSU in goals with five. She has been a key weapon for the Spartans on corner kicks, with three goals as headers off of corners.
The Spartan defense has been effective for the most part despite giving up the fifth-most goals in the conference. However, if MSU wants to get back to the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2011, the offense needs to start controlling the ball more and doing more on offense to relieve some of the pressure off of the defense and goalkeepers.
Junior goalkeeper Courtney Clem started the season as the No. 1 goalkeeper, but after a tough game against Wisconsin and surrendering two quick goals against Michigan, sophomore Gabrielle Gauruder got the starting nod against Iowa.
Clem and Gauruder duked it out in practice last week for the starting spot, which eventually went to Clem. Clem played well until the 70th minute when she gave up two goals in less than 10 minutes. Saxton decided to put Gauruder back in for the remainder of the game.
Clem hasn’t been perfect in goal for the Spartans, but it’s hard to put all the blame on the goalkeepers when they are faced with more than 20 shots per game.
Big Ten Tournament or not, the Spartans will be in a great position next year to compete for a tournament spot and possibly more.
Derek Blalock is a State News women’s soccer reporter. He can be reached at dblalock@statenews.com.
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