EAST LANSING – On a crisp, cool night in East Lansing, Michigan State women’s soccer recorded its seventh shutout of the season, led by senior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal, in a scoreless draw against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday night at DeMartin Stadium. 

Thursday’s result puts the Spartans at 6-1-3, while the Hawkeyes go to 3-4-3 on the season. 

After pulling off the upset against No.19 Colorado on Sept. 11, and opening up Big Ten Conference play with a 3-0 win at Illinois on Sunday, the Spartans struggled to find the back of the net despite some good scoring opportunities.

“We’ve got to match physicality better,” said head coach Jeff Hosler. “That’s two matches in a row now in Big Ten play where we haven’t been our best in the first half.” 

In one of the most physical games of the season, both teams combined for 27 fouls, along with two yellow cards for each side. 

Senior forward Lauren DeBeau led the team with four shots on goal and all four on target, in a full 90 minutes of action. One of the best scoring chances of the night came in the first 45 minutes off a DeBeau right-footed shot, only to be saved in spectacular fashion by Iowa goalkeeper Monica Wilhelm. 

“Iowa is a physical team, but so are we, and I think when we play at our top-notch physicality, we can outplay any team,” said senior forward Lauren DeBeau. “It starts with our leadership as seniors and fifth years, and I think we need to turn it around and look at the positives. We didn’t concede any goals which is good, but we need to start scoring goals.”  

Senior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal recorded her seventh clean sheet of the season Thursday evening while tallying five saves in the contest. 

The Spartans will continue Big Ten Conference play on Sunday, Sept. 25, as the Purdue Boilermakers come into East Lansing for a 1 p.m kick at DeMartin Stadium.