No. 10 MSU women’s soccer head coach Tom Saxton said Tuesday’s practice was full of “devastated” players and coaches, as they dealt with the loss of senior midfielder Lauren Sinacola because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee, an injury that not only ended her season, but also her career.
For the No. 13 MSU women’s soccer team, there’s no easing into the Big Ten season.
Eight games into the season, the No. 13 MSU women’s soccer team is quite simply a statistical marvel.
Joining a team with all but one starter returning usually means sparse playing time for a freshman.
Sunday afternoon only might be the opening of the Big Ten season for the No. 13 MSU women’s soccer team, but the atmosphere at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field will be that of a championship game.
For much of the past decade, the MSU women’s soccer team has been mired in the middle-to-bottom of the Big Ten Conference.
As Tom Saxton watched film of the No. 11 MSU women’s soccer team this past week, the team’s head coach was extremely disappointed with the way the Spartans lackadaisically attacked the low-pressure defense thrown at them last week by Illinois State.
Cara Freeman will play anywhere for the MSU women’s soccer team. The junior played forward in high school, is now playing outside midfielder for MSU and even mentioned playing in net for head coach Tom Saxton — an offer she said he wasn’t exactly thrilled about. “I just look at it as if we win as a team; I don’t really look at what I do individually,” Freeman said.
When MSU women’s soccer assistant coach Tammy Farnum was asked earlier this summer which incoming freshman had the potential to burst onto the MSU sports scene like All-American sophomore forward Laura Heyboer did in 2008, she listed three names. One of those was Olivia Stander, a freshman forward with an impressive sports résumé out of Grosse Pointe High School.
The Central Michigan defense was able to tame the MSU women’s soccer team’s top two scorers in the first half Sunday, but the forward duo of sophomore Laura Heyboer and senior Lauren Hill did what they do best in the second.
On Senior Day, MSU could only muster six shots at Illinois keeper Lindsey Carstens in a 1-0 loss Sunday at Old College Field.
The Spartans are one of five Big Ten teams who currently sit at 0-2 in the conference standings.
After a 5-2-1 start in the non-conference season, the MSU women’s soccer team heads into the Big Ten schedule comfortable with whatever kind of game it might come across.
As senior goalkeeper Nicole Galas approaches MSU’s career shutout record, she not only gets satisfaction from not the numbers she’s putting up, but how those numbers contribute to her team’s success.
Despite it being a week since it dismantled Detroit Mercy, the MSU women’s soccer team showed no rust Wednesday afternoon. Once again using their depth and offensive firepower to their advantage, the Spartans (4-2-0) knocked off Eastern Michigan, 2-0, at Old College Field.
The State News caught up with sophomore forward Lauren Hill. Hill and the women’s soccer team will host Eastern Michigan at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Old College Field.
Coming off a tough overtime loss to Lehigh on Sunday, the MSU women’s soccer team was looking for a rebound performance Wednesday against Detroit Mercy. They got it.
The first chapter of Lauren Hill and Lauren Sinacola’s MSU careers couldn’t have been scripted any better. As freshmen, Hill and Sinacola finished one-two in goals and points for the Spartans and were both selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Two close games turned out two different results for the MSU women’s soccer team on their weekend road trip. The Spartans managed a split on their trip out East, beating Penn 1-0 Friday and dropping 2-1 to Lehigh in overtime Sunday.
After Friday’s 1-0 overtime loss to No. 23 Brigham Young, it was imperative that MSU come out firing Sunday afternoon against Syracuse.