EAST LANSING- Michigan State women’s soccer dropped in rankings to No. 21 following a tough West Coast run this past week. Last night they shut out the Wisconsin Badgers 2-0 under the lights at DeMartin tonight.
The match was very shot-heavy, recording 18 from the Badgers and 17 from the Spartans.
This kept the goalkeepers busy as Badgers sophomore goalkeeper Drew Stover recorded seven saves and Spartans graduate goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks recorded 10.
“I think we really came out hard and with a lot of intensity and we proved that we were a better team in the end with the result,” sophomore midfielder Bella Najera said.
Graduate forward Meg Hughes opened gameplay in the third minute with a shot to the bottom right of the net, forcing a save by Stover, setting the notion for how the match will be played.
This will be one of five shots for Hughes in the 90 minutes of gameplay.
Just a few minutes later, junior defender Sofia Beerworth curved a shot, hitting the left post, to net her first goal this season in the 10th minute giving the Spartans a very early lead.
“It felt so great being my first Spartan goal, especially and it was just the boost the team needed to get our energy up there and continue going at it,” Beerworth stated.
With the Badgers looking for an equalizer, Parks recorded two more saves in the following physical 15 minutes, where two yellow cards were issued to the Badgers.
The Spartans defense locked down to keep the 1-0 lead heading into the first half with a 9-7 shot advantage.
“Sometimes when we go into halftime 0-0, that just makes it more stressful,” Najera said. “So, getting an early goal just really takes the stress out of the game and we can just kind of calm down, take a breath, and just try to keep it going.”
Immediately into the start of the second half, Hughes would send another shot to force another Badger save.
It would then be a back-and-forth possessive game until freshman forward Adelle Francis had a massive breakaway in the 66th minute, sending a shot to extend the lead, but her strike landed in the hands of Stover.
Not even a minute later, sophomore midfielder Bella Najera sent a right-footed shot to the bottom left of the net, extending the Spartans lead to 2-0.
The Badgers proceeded to rack up shots to avoid a shutout, but could not make it past the Spartans back line. This game would be Parks’ seventh shutout on the season.
“The focus has to be back to what’s made the program great, which is focusing on the daily process and really challenging yourself to be the best in the day with it,” Michigan State head coach Jeff Hosler said.
The Spartans moved to 10-1-5 overall while the Badgers dropped to 7-4-4.
Michigan State hosts Northwestern this Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be aired on Big Ten Plus.
