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Spartan's three game winning streak snapped by high-powered Wake Forest

September 8, 2017

The MSU women’s soccer team dropped its third game of the season on a rainy Thursday night at DeMartin Stadium, losing to Wake Forest, 4-1; ending their three game win streak. 

The Demon Deacons were the aggressors for much of the first period, recording 12 shots with five of them being on target.

The Spartans only created two shots in the first half, with their first shot of the game coming in the 24th minute.

Wake Forest’s first shot on goal of the contest came at the expense of redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Reilley Ott, who suffered a leg injury on the save and needed to exit the game at the ten minute mark. She was replaced by redshirt senior goalkeeper Savanna Wojtanowski.

Head Coach Tom Saxton said postgame that while Ott has a history of knee issues, he doesn’t expect her leg injury to linger, and for her to be ready to play in next week’s game against Indiana.

“I don’t think it’s a long-term issue,” Saxton said. “There are no signs at all that that will affect it.”

The Demon Deacons netted the first goal of the game between either team in the 30th minute.

MSU could not capitalize on the few scoring opportunities they had in the first half; as senior forward Jamie Cheslik had a one-on-one scoring opportunity late in the first period against the Wake Forest goalkeeper, but failed to get the best of her.

Cheslik had been the Spartan’s leading goal scorer coming into the game, with three on the season.

The Spartan’s lone goal of the contest came in the 57th minute in the form of a corner kick, as freshman midfielder Danielle Stephan was able to squeeze the ball in through a crowd of Wake Forest defenders to tie the game at 1-1.

While MSU showed more aggression and urgency in the second half – charting five more total shots than they did in the first half - they ultimately were unable to stop a high-powered Wake Forest attack.

The Demon Deacons scored three unanswered goals after the Spartans had tied the game, to win the match, 4-1.

Although Saxton commended his teams’ defense against the 17th ranked Demon Deacons for most of the game, he noted that the squad needs to be sharper when facing higher-level opponents.

“We said to the team, ‘you’re playing against top 20 competition, you’re going to have to get used to defending for long periods of time,’” Saxton said.  

The Spartans will look to rebound heading into conference play as they host Indiana on Sept. 14. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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