Fueled by payback and boosted by a 17-year-old, No. 2-ranked MSU women's soccer gets on track with a dominant win over Washington
· Yahoo Sports
EAST LANSING — Michigan State’s women’s soccer team had thinking about the opportunity on Sunday since before they even knew their schedule.
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At this point in the program's rise, there aren’t many regular season games that get circled on the Spartans’ calendar. Washington’s visit to DeMartin Stadium was one of them.
“We've had this game on the calendar for the past year,” fourth-year midfielder Bella Najera said.
Among the few things the Spartans haven’t accomplished over the last five seasons: Winning a Big Ten tournament championship. The Huskies took that title from them last fall, beating MSU in penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie that was only even on the scoreboard. The Spartans outshot Washington 16-6, but couldn’t separate themselves.
Sunday, they did, with a dominating performance on the field and on the scoreboard, scoring three times against a Washington team that had previously only allowed four goals all season. MSU’s 3-0 win was also Washington’s first defeat of the season, and put MSU tied atop the Big Ten with Purdue and Ohio State, who are also 4-1 in conference play.
“I think when the whole season was over (last fall), we started reflecting on last year, and I think we left some points on the table in the regular season,” MSU coach Jeff Hosler said. “(Washington) won the title by two points. We didn't get to play them in the regular season, and we obviously had that big moment in the championship game where I think we played really well. We were just level on the scoreboard at the end, and they did an incredible job on the PKs. So I think all of us have been excited for this opportunity again to get them the regular season.”
It was an important win beyond the sweetness of revenge. MSU fell out of the top spot nationally in the RPI rankings with an upset loss to Michigan last weekend, during which a lapse in concentration over a few minutes led to a string of Wolverines goals and the Spartans’ first defeat. Then MSU beat Nebraska on Thursday, but barely, and didn’t play well in dong so.
Handling Washington will likely move the Spartans back to No. 1 in the RPI, even if not No. 1 in the coaches poll, where they’re also No. 2. This season’s schedule and roster construction was geared toward having a high enough RPI ranking that MSU winds up with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and is able to host all the way to the semifinals.
The Spartans have a lot of their stars, standouts and mainstays back this season. They also have some new talent, like freshman Lacey Kindel, who turned 17 on Sunday and scored her first goal at MSU in the 61st minute, putting the Spartans ahead 2-0.
“It feels amazing. I've been waiting for it to come, and it was just such a special day to have it,” said Kindel, who will leave MSU’s team for a month on Oct. 6 to compete for Canada in the U-17 World Cup. Freshman reserve goalkeeper Samantha Powell is also slated to join the Canadian team.
“The physical part has been the most impressive,” Hosler said of his young midfielder. “She brings the most physicality in training of the freshman group. She's really strong on the ball. She uses that physicality to be patient and composed a little bit, and I think we saw today, not just the goal and the quality there, but the combination play that she had, the willingness to bring in pressure and play around it. So for a 16-, now 17-year-old player, I think she's world class, and I think today she demonstrated a lot of that.”
MSU’s final goal Sunday was a long time coming for a player who’s battled injuries throughout her career at MSU, third-year midfielder Grace Jackson, whose goal in the 73rd minute clinched the win. You could hear in the team huddle after the game just how happy the coaching staff and her teammates were for Jackson.
“Massive moment for Grace,” Hosler said. “She's been through so much in her time here. Her first two seasons, just as she started to find form each time, was riddled with injury. Missed long, long stretches. She missed long stretches in the spring too. But she continues to work hard and train every day. She continues to stay ready. And today, I think she showed she is ready.”
MSU’s first goal came from a more seasoned producer of goals and assists in fourth-year midfielder Ella Janz. The Northville native’s goal gave the Spartans the lead in just the third minute. They controlled the game, but didn’t find the net again until Kindel’s goal in the second half.
MSU was also boosted by the return of goalkeeper Noelle Henning, who had been away playing for Canada at the U-20 World Cup, where she had 18 saves. She had two Sunday.
It wasn’t all fun on Sunday for the Spartans, who lost fifth-year striker Emerson Sargeant to a foot injury. She finished the game wearing a boot. Hosler wasn’t sure about her status going forward, but said she would be seeing a doctor Sunday.
“She keeps taking the same knock,” Sergeant said. “She took it early in that USC game in the 12th or 13th minute. We missed her all match. She was available for UCLA and played well in that one.”
Mostly, though, things are going as hoped for an MSU team that’s 8-1-2 on the season, with a week to prepare for a game at Illinois next Sunday, Oct. 4.
“We've been working on the defensive mentality. I think we wavered in the previous two matches, but I think we made a big statement today with it. … That's the biggest thing for this group — for us to go further, we have to be more stout defensively.
“I think there's a strong sense of belief in the group. Confidence is such a fragile thing, and the more of these types of results we keep putting together … they have big expectations for the regular season and the postseason, and the more we keep doing this, those experiences are going to keep fueling us going forward.”
Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Fueled by payback and boosted by a 17-year-old, No. 2-ranked MSU women's soccer gets on track with a dominant win over Washington