EAST LANSING- The No. 21 Michigan State women’s soccer team has won back-to-back contests following a taxing West Coast road trip. Sitting at 11-1-5 in 2024, Michigan State has seen awe-inspiring play from graduate goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks across the latter half of the season, especially upon returning home from the Pacific Northwest.
As a key part of one of the Big Ten’s top defensive units, Parks was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time in 2024.
MSU downed Wisconsin on Thursday and prevailed over Northwestern on Sunday to provide further momentum with the regular season closing.
Parks pitched shutouts against both Big Ten adversaries, accruing a combined 13 saves across matchups in front of the raucous DeMartin Stadium crowd.
The two victories lowered Parks’ goals against average (GAA) to 0.73 as her standout year in front of the Red Cedar Rowdies continued.
In the 2-0 victory over the Badgers, Parks tallied a mesmerizing 10 saves on 18 shots faced, marking her second-highest total across her storied college career. Parks’ 10 saves on Thursday night only trailed her 11 saves in a road victory over No. 9 Penn State back on Sept. 22.
Parks was previously awarded player of the week honors on Sept. 24, following a career-best outing in State College.
When Northwestern came to town on Sunday, the Upper Marlboro, Maryland native maintained her dominance in goal for MSU. Parks added another three saves on four shots faced against the Wildcats, marking her second straight clean sheet and her eighth on the season.
Parks also won in both outings, earning her eighth and ninth wins in 2024 with Purdue on the horizon on Sunday afternoon.
In her second season in East Lansing on the heels of her transfer from Wake Forest, Parks established herself as one of the most impressive keepers countrywide.
In her breakout campaign, Parks is tied for third in the Big Ten averaging 4.20 saves per game, while her 85.1% save percentage ranks second among all Big Ten goalies who have played 1,000 minutes or more.
Parks, with her new hardware, and Michigan State will close out regular season action with a home tilt against Purdue on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
