Two avertible goals surrendered by Michigan State’s women’s soccer team in the opening 25 minutes against No. 4 Penn State were too much for the Spartans to overcome in the end.

With two of Penn State’s three goals on the afternoon coming from an MSU mental mistake and a questionable penalty kick, the 3-1 loss for the Spartans Sunday was an agonizing one. Now at 8-3-2 on the season, MSU’s hopes for a second straight Big Ten title appear to be grim. 

“I think it’s a super frustrating result,” MSU head women’s soccer coach Jeff Hosler said postgame. “We just had two switch-off moments in the first half that put us behind the ball.”

MSU entered Sunday’s match looking to defend its home field and jump back into the Big Ten title conversation with an upset. 

Such hopes were disrupted just over five minutes into the game when Penn State fifth-year senior forward Payton Linnehan showed impressive touch with a looping shot over MSU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks that found the back of the net. PSU senior defender Eva Alonso was credited with the assist to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 advantage. 

The Spartans kept their wits about them for about 20 minutes and then yielded arguably their most preventable goal of the season thus far. 

Right in front of its own goal, MSU’s back line suffered serious miscommunication, giving the ball away to PSU redshirt junior forward Kaitlyn MacBean, who finished off her free look at the net. 

Getting looks at the goal was not the issue for the Spartans on Sunday. They put up more shots and had seven more corner kicks than Penn State. However, a couple of critical errors can make all the difference against a national contender.

“Despite the scoreline, I thought we had a much superior team in the first half with the territory we had and the chances we were looking to create,” Hosler said. “But we shot ourselves in the foot twice, missing a mark and then giving the ball away.”

Trailing 2-0 to the No. 4 team in the country, the Spartans had their work cut out for them. They responded early in the second half, getting on the board with phenomenal passing and spacing offensively. 

A meticulous entry into the box by MSU senior midfielder Justina Gaynor found sophomore midfielder Emerson Sargeant, who slid the ball from left to right to graduate student defender Raegan Cox for a sliding finish at the net. 53 minutes in, the Spartans had life. 

Thanks to a controversial call for Penn State, in which Parks and PSU fifth-year senior midfielder Cori Dyke collided in the box, Penn State took a commanding 3-1 lead after Dyke nailed the PK. 

The officials reviewed the call, and the foul ruling was upheld. Hosler did not agree with the call and voiced exactly that following the game.

“I think it was a ridiculously awful decision on the (penalty),” Hosler said. “To review it and still have that same decision is unacceptable.”

The Spartans ran out of gas at the end, struggling to find promising looks offensively. It was their first loss in conference play, setting them back from their ultimate goal of defending their 2022 Big Ten title. 

MSU now enters a two-game road stretch, where the team will travel to Ann Arbor and Bloomington to face Michigan and Indiana. 

“If that’s the fourth-ranked team in the country, then (this game) shows what we’re capable of,” Hosler said. “It shows what we really can be and what we are at times.”

MSU heads to Ann Arbor to face rival Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.