For the second-consecutive season, the MSU women’s soccer team will not make a trip to the Big Ten Tournament. After a 2-1 victory at Northwestern on Friday to stay in the hunt for a tournament berth, the Spartans (9-7-2 overall, 3-7-0 Big Ten) couldn’t find a way to win against Illinois (9-7-2, 4-5-1), losing 2-0 Sunday afternoon.
Despite difficult playing conditions and winds up to 20 miles per hour, the MSU women’s soccer team beat Northwestern, 2-1, in Evanston, Ill., on Friday night. MSU (9-6-2 overall, 3-6-0 Big Ten) quickly fell behind the Wildcats (3-12-2, 1-8-0) when, in the 15th minute, Northwestern midfielder Margo McGinty shot from 18 yards out and got it past Gauruder in the top left corner of the net. Head coach Tom Saxton said the Wildcats got the best of them physically in the early going and got better position than the Spartans.
In her third year of college, Kirsten Evans is in her first as a Spartan. Out of high school, the redshirt sophomore midfielder committed to the Vanderbilt women’s soccer team. Because of an injury after just six games into her freshman year, she was sidelined the remainder of the season. After being redshirted in 2012, the Farmington Hills, Mich., native left Nashville and transferred to MSU at the winter break, joining the Spartan women’s soccer team this spring.
It’s been a rocky road, but their work isn’t done just yet. With three more games to go and a final spot in the Big Ten Tournament up for grabs, the women’s soccer team is looking to cap the season on a high note. Here is what they have been through so far this season:
Despite blowing out Purdue 4-0 on Friday, the MSU women’s soccer team couldn’t make back-to-back wins, losing to Indiana, 3-2, in double overtime Sunday afternoon. Trailing 2-1 with just eight minutes remaining in the Indiana match, sophomore forward Allyson Krause tied the game with her fifth goal of the season. Krause took a pass from freshman midfielder Kaylee Phillips on the right side and broke away to find the left side of the net.
It must have been a birthday sense, because even before the game Allyson Krause knew she would score on her 20th birthday. The sophomore forward didn’t know when, but with just less than two minutes left in the match, Krause took a pass from the corner.
Every game is becoming more and more crucial for the women’s soccer team. After starting the season out 6-0-2, the Spartans (7-5-2 overall, 1-5-0 Big Ten) have been in a tailspin since conference play.
Every game is becoming more and more crucial for the women’s soccer team. After starting the season out 6-0-2, the Spartans (7-5-2 overall, 1-5-0 Big Ten) have been in a tailspin since conference play.
Rookies, newcomers, young ones — if this was basketball, ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale might even call them “diaper dandies, baby!” But to most, they’re just freshmen. They haven’t been on campus for more than a couple months, but a group of freshmen already have been contributing to the MSU women’s soccer team (7-5-2 overall, 1-5-0 Big Ten).
A Big Ten Tournament berth still isn’t out of the question, but after Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Ohio State, the MSU women’s soccer team has serious work to do in the final five games of the season.
The clock is ticking for the women’s soccer team. The Spartans (7-4-2 overall, 1-4-0 Big Ten) have only six games remaining in the regular season before the Big Ten Tournament. They currently sit a game out of eighth place in the Big Ten — the number of teams allowed into the tournament.
Heading into the season, Courtney Clem was the No. 1 goalkeeper for the MSU women’s soccer team. With just six games remaining on the schedule and an important Big Ten match against Ohio State on Saturday, the junior goalkeeper will be competing in practice this week to keep the top spot with sophomore goalkeeper Gabrielle Gauruder.
The MSU women’s soccer team held on for 106 minutes as Iowa got off shot after shot, but couldn’t hang on for four more minutes to make it a draw. The Spartans (7-4-2 overall, 1-4-0 Big Ten) and Hawkeyes (10-3-0, 2-3-0) fought through two overtimes Sunday afternoon on Iowa’s home field, but it was the Hawkeyes who came out with the 1-0 win thanks to a late goal by Iowa midfielder Anne Marie Thomas.
Two early Michigan goals proved to be too much for the MSU women’s soccer team to overcome against the No. 21 team in the nation. The Spartans (7-3-2 overall, 1-3-0 Big Ten) lost, 2-1, to the Wolverines (8-2-1, 2-1-1) in their second-consecutive loss to a Big Ten opponent.
The rivalry is renewed. The women’s soccer team (7-2-2 overall, 1-2-0 Big Ten) will return to DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field on Thursday against its archrival, No. 21 Michigan (7-2-1, 1-1-1).
Warrior. Enforcer. Competitor. Those are words that can be used to describe sophomore defender Mary Kathryn Fiebernitz. In only her second year of game action after redshirting her freshman year, Fiebernitz is bringing her competitive nature to the MSU women’s soccer team.
She grew up a Spartan, and now is the starting midfielder for the MSU women’s soccer team. Sophomore midfielder Sarah Kovan spent her childhood around MSU athletics. Her father, Jeff Kovan, has been a part of the sports medicine program since 1995, and has been mainly working with men’s basketball since 1996, along with other sports.
The MSU women’s soccer team couldn’t pick up the weekend sweep as the Spartans lost to No. 18 Wisconsin, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans (7-2-2 overall, 1-2-0 Big Ten) won their first Big Ten game in nearly a year Friday against Minnesota, 3-0, but head coach Tom Saxton said tired legs hit the young squad Sunday against the Badgers (7-1-2, 2-0-1).
It’s been nearly a year, but the MSU women’s soccer team was able to finally pick up a Big Ten win.
This will be a crucial weekend for the women’s soccer team as they prepare to face Big Ten opponents Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Spartans (6-1-1 overall, 0-1-0 Big Ten) dropped their first match of the season last week against Nebraska, 1-0. With only one game last weekend, MSU got a couple of extra days to rebound and freshen up for this weekend’s slate.