EAST LANSING— No. 5 Michigan State cruised to a 4-1 victory Thursday night over Nebraska in DeMartin Stadium to remain undefeated. They now have the best start to a season since 2009.
In the first 10 minutes, both squads were unable to get the ball rolling offensively, recording zero shots from either team.
The Spartans scored first with a goal in the 21st minute by graduate forward Meg Hughes, assisted by graduate midfielder Gabby Mueller.
“She had some really good moments today,” said head coach Jeff Hosler when asked about Mueller.
“She’s in tighter areas, and she can maneuver a little bit better maybe than a 5 ‘8, 5’ 9 kid that you typically see in the Big Ten, but she also has a really high IQ.”
With 10 minutes to go in the first half, the Spartans gained offensive possession of the ball after a long defensive battle between the two teams. Redshirt freshman forward Adelle Francis began with a header, and freshman midfielder Kaleigh McPherson attempted to extend the lead with a shot ricocheting off the crossbar.
In the 43rd minute, Huskers junior midfielder Sadie Waite sent a ball off the crossbar to score a goal which was placed under review. A few moments later, the goal would be confirmed to give the Huskers an equalizer at 1-1.
However, the Spartans responded a minute later with a goal by graduate midfielder Emily Mathews to the top left corner of the net, assisted by junior defender Remini Tillotson to give the lead back to them going into halftime. This is Mathews sixth goal this season.
The Spartans tallied six shots and five corner kicks while Nebraska tallied four shots and three corner kicks at the half.
Coming out of the break, Nebraska struggled to get past the Spartans defense, allowing MSU to escalate offensively and rally up more chances to extend their lead. In the 70th minute, graduate midfielder Justina Gaynor assisted senior forward Jordyn Wickes for their third goal of the game and Wickes first goal of the season.
Just three minutes later, graduate forward Mackenzie Anthony looked to get another goal, but instead, forced another save by Nebraska’s junior goalkeeper Cece Villa.
Sophomore defender Ella Janz scored her second goal in back-to-back games to push the Spartans lead to 4-1 and solidify their victory, keeping their undefeated streak alive.
The Spartans dominated offensively with 15 shots compared to the eight shots by Nebraska.
“I thought we were pretty flat in the first half. I think we were clearly much better in the second half, especially winning balls and collecting seconds that we did almost none of in the first half,” said Hosler.
MSU improves their record to 7-0-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play while Nebraska falls to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
No. 5 Michigan State takes on No. 9 Penn State on the road on Sunday, September 22.
