Women's Soccer Opens Exhibition Play at CMU

Aug. 13, 2015

MT. PLEASANT - The MSU women's soccer team had the opportunity to experiment with personnel during their exhibition game with Central Michigan as the two teams played to a 0-0 tie in Mt. Pleasant on Aug. 13.

Playing four 25 minute periods, Michigan State head state coach Tom Saxton experimented with different lineups. Gabrielle Gauruder started in the Spartan net, while Allyson Krause and Jamie Cheslik heralded the Spartan front line with the noticeable addition of freshman Alexis Warner. Warner showed tenacity, having several notable looks at goal while hustling back on defense as well. Freshman Michaela Kovacs also had a strong showing at midfield.

Anchoring the defense, senior leader Mary Kathryn Fiebernitz prevented the Chippewas from scoring on several offensive runs.

"The first group came out aggressively to play the game," Saxton said. "To Central's credit they played very physical and disrupted our play. It was a very competitive first 50 minutes."

Saxton the coaching staff was stressing being physical and aggressive in confrontations on the field.

While the Spartans had the upper hand in the first two segments of play, CMU intensified its physical play with the lineup changes, pressuring the Spartan net and backline. In a show of stamina late in the game, MSU fired back, nearly scoring on a corner kick in the final moments of the game.

Saxton said that the game was designed for allowing coaching staff to evaluate personnel. He was able to examine his entire bench during the game play, allowing for senior team members to coach from the sidelines during shift rotations.

"It's always nice to have coaches on the field," Saxton said. "This is a game where the players have to make the decisions and when they can get help from those around them, it's a bonus for the team. I also thought the veterans â€" most of them were off in the second part of the gameâ€" did a nice job on the sideline supporting their teammates. Those are good building blocks for good team chemistry and moving forward together."

Michigan State will head into its second exhibition match on Aug. 16, held in Detroit against the UDM Titans with kickoff at 1 pm.