Women's Soccer Prepares For Second Ever NCAA Tournament

Nov. 11, 2005

EAST LANSING, Mich. -

Michigan State (11-5-5)vs. Bowling Green (14-6-2)
Nov. 11, 2005Notre Dame, Ind.5 p.m.

NCAA Tournament Notes
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Michigan State and the NCAA Tournament - The Spartans have appeared in just one NCAA Tournament in program history, losing a first-round contest with Miami University, 1-0, during the 2002 season. Michigan State will make its second NCAA trip this season, thanks to a good showing at the Big Ten Tournament and throughout the regular-season. The Spartans finished third in the 2005 regular season standings and also boast wins over Texas A&M, Minnesota, Bowling Green, Wisconsin and a tie vs. Texas and Illinois, to post an overall record of 3-3-2 vs. teams in the 2005 National Tournament field.

Week In Review - The third-seeded Spartans posted an opening round win in the 2005 Big Ten Tournament with a 3-0 victory over the number six-seed Indiana on Nov. 3. Emma Harris opened the scoring with her 12th goal of the season. Erin Konheim and Shannon Collar also scored for the Green and White, which picked up its second win over the Hoosiers this season. Michigan State advanced to the conference semi-finals, where it dropped a heart-breaking 2-1 decision to seventh-seeded Wisconsin. Harris tallied her 13th goal of the year to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead, but the Badgers tied the score before halftime and crushed MSU's championship dreams with an Amy Vermuellen goal in the 90th minute. The Badgers ultimately captured the 2005 Big Ten Title with a 3-1 win over the host Michigan Wolverines on Sunday afternoon.

Scouting Bowling Green - The Spartans will open the NCAA Division I College Cup with a rematch of their Sept. 9 contest against Bowling Green State University. Michigan State dispatched the Falcons 1-0, on an Emma Harris goal. The Green and White outshot BGSU 16-4 to improve to 8-1-1 all-time vs. the Falcons. Bowling Green finished the season with an overall record of 14-6-2, 9-2-0 in MAC action, and captured the MAC tournament championship to earn an automatic-bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons are paced offensively by Samantha Meister, who boasts an 8-6-22 mark on the season, and Julie Trundle, who leads the team with 10 assists in 2005. Goalkeeper Ali Shingle has been the workhorse between the pipes for Bowling Green posting a 14-6-2 record, a 1.19 GAA and a .802 save percentage.

Valparaiso vs. Notre Dame - Should MSU advance past Bowling Green, it would face the winner of Friday's second contest which features the champions of the Mid-Continent Conference the Valparaiso Crusaders (12-7-1) and defending College Cup Champions, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (19-2-0). The Spartans are an umblemished 6-0-0 all-time vs Valpo, but trail the overall series with the Irish 2-9-0.

All Night Long - Michigan State has to be excited about the early-evening 5:00 p.m. start for Friday's contest with Bowling Green. This season the Green and White is undefeated (2-0-2) in night games, pulling out wins at Akron (1-0) and Iowa (4-1), while settling for a pair of ties at Kentucky (1-1) and at arch-rival Michigan (0-0). The Spartans are also a respectable 9-5-3 in games played during the day, including a 7-2-2 mark at home in front of the crowd at Old College Field.

Big Ten Success - At 6-2-2, the Spartans posted their best finish ever in Big Ten play. With their, 1-0, win over Minnesota Michigan State set a new school record for conference wins in a season. MSU had won five contests in the Big Ten three times, in 1994, 2000 and 2002. In knocking off the visiting Gophers, the Green and White also earned its sixth consecutive double-digit win season. The Spartans have posted a 68-40-11 record over the past six seasons, including a 27-25-6 record in Big Ten action.

The Spartans and The Big Ten Tourney - Michigan State won for just the second time in school history in Big Ten Tournament action when it posted a 3-0 win over Indiana in the first-round. Ultimately, the Green and White dropped to 2-9-0 all-time in conference post-season play with a 2-1 loss at the hands of eventual champion Wisconsin.

Emma Harris - Harris added a pair of goals and an assist to her season totals this weekend and now boasts 13-3-29 totals on the year. She now sits in a four-way tie for fourth place in career goals at MSU (29) with Tiffany Laskowski (2000-03), Kristin Lester (1993-96) and Julie Gnau (1986), a third-place tie in career-assists (20) with Leasa Kilx (1986-88) and is in sole possesion of third-place on the all-time Spartan scoring chart with 78 points. Her goal and point totals are the best single-season marks since Karen Winslow matched the feat with 13 goals and 29 points of her own in 1993

Galas Sets Single Season Record - Spartan goalkeeper Nicole Galas (Sterling Heights) pitched her ninth shutout of the season, with an eight save performance, in Michigan State's 1-0 win over Minnesota. With the cleansheet, Galas set the single-season shutout mark snapping a first-place tie with former MSU goalkeeper Erin O'Connell (1992-95), who turned the trick in 1994. Galas added to her total with her tenth shutout of 2005 in a 0-0 tie at Michigan on Oct. 28, and her 11th in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, a 3-0 win vs. Indiana. She has made all 21 of her career starts this season and now boasts a 0.82 GAA and a .851 save percentage.

Erin Konheim - With an assist on Emma Harris' game-winning goal against Indiana , in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, Konheim set a new career-standard for assists at Michigan State with her 22nd helper as a Spartan. Konheim added an assist on MSU's lone goal in a 2-1 loss vs. Wisconsin to raise her career mark to 23. The senior midfielder matched her single-season career high, previously set as a sophomore during the 2003 campaign, with her seventh assist of the season vs. the Badgers. Her seven assists this season tie her for the best single-season mark at Michigan State since Emily Coatney notched eight helpers during the 1988 season.

Shannon Collar - Senior forward Shannon Collar, a 2005 walk-on after three seasons with the MSU club program, picked up her third goal of the year vs. Indiana. Collar's goal iced any thoughts of a Hoosier comeback when she found the back of the net in the 88th minute of play. Collar was a prolific scorer at the club level, leading the team in scoring all three seasons, including a 34-goal campaign in 2004.

Scoring First - Michigan State is an astounding 11-1-0 when scoring first this season and just 1-4-1 when allowing the first goal of the match. The Spartans only loss when jumping out to a 1-0 lead came in their last game, a 2-1 semifinal loss to the University of Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. Ironically, the only time MSU has beaten a team after surrendering the first goal of the game was on Oct. 7, when the Green and White came from behind to knock off the Badgers 3-2.

For The Sake Of Consistency - Nine members of the 2005 Michigan State women's soccer team have started all 21 games this season. Forwards Emma Harris and Dana Voorheis, midfielders Erin Konheim, Maureen Pawlak and Jenee Witherspoon, defenders Erin Doan, Kelly Hannon, Taryn Lee and goalkeeper Nicole Galas have been penciled into the Spartan starting lineup all season long and that consistency has played a major role in the team's success this season. Were it not for mid-season injuries to midfielder Lauren Astry and defender Nina Mastracci, the Green and White would likely have gone with the same starting 11 all-season long.

Double Digits - With 11 wins during the 2005 campaign the Michigan State women's soccer team has already assured itself of a fifth-straight season with 10+ wins. The Spartans have posted double-digit win totals in 15 of the program's 20 seasons. With 218 wins in school history, Michigan State women has averaged 10.9 wins per season in 20 years as a varsity program.

Thank You Seniors - The Spartan soccer program honored an eight member senior class, consisting of Shannon Collar, Anna Hagel, Emma Harris, Erin Konheim, Nina Mastracci, Katherine Peters, Dana Voorheis and Emily Wiegand, on Nov. 4, in the final regular-season game at Old College Field. The class of 2005 will graduate as one of the most successful in MSU history. To date the group has posted a 46-15-7 overall record, an 18-16-4 mark in Big Ten action, and the program's lone NCAA tournament appearance, in 2002. The class has combined to play in 379 games, netting 52 goals, 69 assists and 173 total points in four seasons. This talented group of student athletes also boasts 11 total nominations to the Big Ten All-Academic Team.

Twentieth Season - The Michigan State women's soccer program celebrated its 20th anniversary in a ceremony at halftime of the Sept. 11 game vs. Toledo. The Spartan program began in 1986 under the direction of current men's coach Joe Baum. The 2005 season is head coach Tom Saxton's 15th season at the helm of the women's soccer team. The Green and White boast a 218-146-29 record in program history. The program has produced nine Big Ten first-teamers, 12 second-team selections, two all-freshman team honorees, in current sophomores Erin Doan and Maureen Pawlak, and one Big Ten Player of the Year (Karen Winslow, 1994).