Sunday, September 29
East Lansing, Mich.
1 PM
Michigan State University
8-3-0, 1-2-0
2
vs
0
Purdue
6-4-1, 2-2-0
1
2
F
Purdue
0
0
0
Michigan St.
1
1
2
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
Women’s Soccer Shuts Down Purdue, 2-0, in B1G Home Opener
9/29/2019 4:54:00 PM | Women's Soccer
The Spartans remain undefeated at home this season with a 6-0-0 record.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State women's soccer shutout Purdue, 2-0, on a rainy afternoon at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans remain undefeated in home games this season, boasting a 6-0-0 record in matches in East Lansing.
The Spartans gathered their third home shutout of the season, with the team's first conference win. The six wins at home to start the season are the most wins at home since the 2012 season when the team went 7-3-2 through the 12 home matches.
MSU improves to 8-3-0 on the season and 1-2-0 in Big Ten play, while Purdue falls to 6-4-1 and 2-2-0 in conference games.
After the team's Big Ten home opener versus Indiana was postponed on Friday night due to inclement weather, the Spartans looked to gather the team's first conference win of the season against the Boilermakers.
"Both really, really nice goals; we were on a mission today," MSU head coach Tom Saxton said. "I thought we had a great first 22-minutes Friday night. I felt really good about ourselves and unfortunately we couldn't complete that game. The mindset this morning was fantastic coming in and we just wanted to attack Purdue. They're a very, very good team, so we had our scary moments too. We made good with our chances which is what counts in this game."
Under rainy weather conditions, the Spartans were able to get on the board early and played almost 70 minutes with a 1-0 advantage, before tallying a second goal in the 78th minute.
Freshman forward Paige Webber scored the go-ahead goal in the 10th minute of play, with what would end up being the game-winner for the Spartans. Sophomore forward Camryn Evans passed the ball up through the Purdue zone to Webber, who was able to fire a shot that ricocheted off the left post and went in.
This was Webber's second game-winning goal and fourth goal of the season.
Both teams started to adjust to the field conditions in the second half, with both teams creating more offensive production in the second 45 minutes.
As the clock ticked down in the second half, the Boilermakers were looking for an equalizer. The Spartan defense stood strong on the backline, behind redshirt freshman goalkeeper Lauren Kozal who had two saves and collected her fourth shutout of the season.
The duo of Evans and sophomore forward Gia Wahlberg gave Michigan State a two-goal advantage in the 78th minute. Evans, who notched her second assist of the game, was able to push the ball up to Wahlberg on the right side. Wahlberg outran the Purdue defender and put the ball past goalkeeper Marisa Bova on a rocket from just inside the box.
With her ninth goal of the season, Wahlberg has scored the most goals in a season by a Spartan since Laura Heyboer scored 18 during the 2011 season.
"Defending DeMartin has been one of our go to lines and our mantra since we came out in preseason," Saxton said. "We knew the schedule sets up in terms of balance well for us at home. We still have more home games left – more than away, so we know if we continue to do well at DeMartin, it spells a great season. We'll continue to focus on that although it would be nice to go on the road and get a Big Ten win on Thursday."
UP NEXT: The Spartans will split the third week of conference play with one game on the road and one at home. MSU will travel to Minneapolis on Thursday, Oct. 4 for a 7 p.m. match up with Minnesota, before returning home to DeMartin Stadium for a Sunday afternoon game with Iowa.
The Spartans gathered their third home shutout of the season, with the team's first conference win. The six wins at home to start the season are the most wins at home since the 2012 season when the team went 7-3-2 through the 12 home matches.
MSU improves to 8-3-0 on the season and 1-2-0 in Big Ten play, while Purdue falls to 6-4-1 and 2-2-0 in conference games.
After the team's Big Ten home opener versus Indiana was postponed on Friday night due to inclement weather, the Spartans looked to gather the team's first conference win of the season against the Boilermakers.
"Both really, really nice goals; we were on a mission today," MSU head coach Tom Saxton said. "I thought we had a great first 22-minutes Friday night. I felt really good about ourselves and unfortunately we couldn't complete that game. The mindset this morning was fantastic coming in and we just wanted to attack Purdue. They're a very, very good team, so we had our scary moments too. We made good with our chances which is what counts in this game."
Under rainy weather conditions, the Spartans were able to get on the board early and played almost 70 minutes with a 1-0 advantage, before tallying a second goal in the 78th minute.
Freshman forward Paige Webber scored the go-ahead goal in the 10th minute of play, with what would end up being the game-winner for the Spartans. Sophomore forward Camryn Evans passed the ball up through the Purdue zone to Webber, who was able to fire a shot that ricocheted off the left post and went in.
This was Webber's second game-winning goal and fourth goal of the season.
Both teams started to adjust to the field conditions in the second half, with both teams creating more offensive production in the second 45 minutes.
As the clock ticked down in the second half, the Boilermakers were looking for an equalizer. The Spartan defense stood strong on the backline, behind redshirt freshman goalkeeper Lauren Kozal who had two saves and collected her fourth shutout of the season.
The duo of Evans and sophomore forward Gia Wahlberg gave Michigan State a two-goal advantage in the 78th minute. Evans, who notched her second assist of the game, was able to push the ball up to Wahlberg on the right side. Wahlberg outran the Purdue defender and put the ball past goalkeeper Marisa Bova on a rocket from just inside the box.
With her ninth goal of the season, Wahlberg has scored the most goals in a season by a Spartan since Laura Heyboer scored 18 during the 2011 season.
"Defending DeMartin has been one of our go to lines and our mantra since we came out in preseason," Saxton said. "We knew the schedule sets up in terms of balance well for us at home. We still have more home games left – more than away, so we know if we continue to do well at DeMartin, it spells a great season. We'll continue to focus on that although it would be nice to go on the road and get a Big Ten win on Thursday."
UP NEXT: The Spartans will split the third week of conference play with one game on the road and one at home. MSU will travel to Minneapolis on Thursday, Oct. 4 for a 7 p.m. match up with Minnesota, before returning home to DeMartin Stadium for a Sunday afternoon game with Iowa.
Team Stats
Purdue
MSU
Goals
0
2
Shots
8
12
Shots on Goal
2
6
Saves
4
2
Corners
5
1
Fouls
10
14
Scoring Plays
Paige Webber (1)
Assisted By: Camryn Evans
long pass from #10, hit post and went in
09:58
Gia Wahlberg (1)
Assisted By: Camryn Evans
lead pass from 10, cross to top left of net
78:47
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
2
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's SoccerF
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