Michigan State Reaches B1G Tournament Championship Game, Sets Single-Season Program Win Record

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time in program history, the Michigan State women's soccer team earned a spot in the Big Ten Tournament championship game, and set a single-season program record with 16 wins during the 2022 campaign. The top-seeded Spartans defeated the fourth-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers by a 2-1 margin in Thursday afternoon's semifinal from Lower.com Field, the home of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew.

Since Michigan State began sponsoring women's soccer in the 1986 season, no team in program history was able to match their inaugural win tally of 15 games until the 2022 Spartans did so in their B1G Tournament quarterfinal win over Minnesota. With Thursday's victory over Nebraska, MSU was able to break the 36-year-old record for program wins. Additionally, the Spartans set a new program record by becoming the first Spartan team to reach the Big Ten Tournament championship game. The Green & White reached the tournament semifinals on four occasions prior to 2022, which was the program record until Thursday afternoon's result went final.

Michigan State rises to its historic 16-1-3 overall mark after posting an undefeated 9-0-1 Big Ten Championship regular-season bolstered by a 2-0 ledger in the conference tournament. In defeat, Nebraska falls to 8-7-5 overall on the year, but published an impressive 5-3-2 mark during the Big Ten regular season that placed the Cornhuskers in the receiving votes category following the release of the latest United Soccer Coaches poll. MSU's win also evened the all-time series with Nebraska, rising to 4-4-2 following the 10th all-time meeting.

In the box score, freshman midfielder Courtney Koehler compiled a remarkable stat line, notching an assist on MSU's first goal of the game and publishing the game-winner later in the second half. Graduate forward Camryn Evans tallied the first Spartan score, part of her booking three total shots on goal in the game. Junior forward Ranya Senhaji logged the assist on Koehler's goal that held up as the game-winner. The Cornhuskers built a 13-9 edge in total shot attempts but played MSU to a 6-6 draw in shots on goal. Nebraska forced five corner kick opportunities against Michigan State's three.

Between the posts, senior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal put on a show with five total saves and only one goal allowed in her single-season program-record 16th individual win. On the other end of the field, Cornhusker goalie Samantha Hauk allowed two goals and registered two saves in 90 minutes of work, being saddled with the loss in the process.

Nebraska roared out of the gates early on, applying significant pressure on the Spartan back line that culminated in a pair of early corner kicks. The Cornhuskers remained dominant early but failed to put anything in the back of the net during the opening moments. Kozal maintained her status as a premier defensive stopper during much of the first half, snagging a pair of saves through the first 15 minutes.

As the opening stanza wore on, Michigan State's offense began to settle in. Koehler earned possession of the ball and moved down the left side of the field. The freshman midfielder sent a solid pass back to Evans in the left-center portion of the penalty area. Evans battled to maintain possession and took a sweet stepback move with the ball to create space, ultimately pummeling the ball into the back right corner of the goal for MSU's opening score.

The Cornhuskers weathered the Spartan attack well in the ensuing moments, and ultimately countered on the scoreboard towards the end of the first half. Jordan Zade battled into a clearing on a breakaway in the 36th minute and sent a pass far post through the air that found Eleanor Dale. The Cornhusker attacker timed her jump perfectly for the header score to tie things up. Each squad settled in for the remainder of the period and re-entered the locker room knotted up at 1-1.

An extensive feeling-out process defined the opening minutes of the second half, with neither team generating any serious scoring chances for the first 15 minutes. The Spartans remained persistent, however, building out a dominant possession sequence on Nebraska's half of the field.

MSU's offensive run culminated in an impressive breakaway opportunity spurred on by a slide tackle from junior midfielder Regan Dalton. Her tackle forced the ball up-field, where it was collected by Senhaji and sent down to Koehler on the left side of the field. Koehler outplayed her defender and sent a marvelous right-footed shot into the back right corner for the game-winning goal. Michigan State's back line held up the rest of the way, finalizing the historic 2-1 result.

POSTGAME QUOTES
MICHIGAN STATE QUOTES
Head Coach Jeff Hosler
On his feeling following the semifinal victory...
"It's great. After every one of these wins, I always hear about how we set some sort of new record or did something for the first time in a long time. We are going to keep riding that wave. It's a great feeling. I think it'll feel better more and more as time goes on in reflection from this match. Obviously, we will have a tremendous opponent and opportunity on the other side on Sunday. Regardless of who we play, I know it's going to be an incredible game and an incredible opponent. Both Northwestern and Penn State have strong programs, in addition to extremely talented teams, so we will have to continue playing to the standard we've set for ourselves every day."

On setting a single-season program record with 16 wins...
"It's crazy. It's the same word I've been using over the past few weeks; this is all pretty surreal. This is a special group. It's amazing to see what commitment, belief, buy-in, and being team-first can do for a group. You obviously have to have talent and the ability to go out and execute, but I'm just so proud of this group. The way they keep coming back to go undefeated in the regular season, and then come into the Big Ten Tournament and defeat a pair of opponents who we didn't get to play during the year, it's really special to watch."

Freshman midfielder Courtney Koehler
On the opportunity to play at Lower.com Field and what she saw that led to a breakout effort...
"I think it was a new opportunity for us, and we haven't really been on this big of a stage before. I just thought, leading up to this game, that everyone on our team has stepped up within their role in our process. I just saw an opening to make a run, and somehow, I flicked the ball over to Cam and she scored it. Then, on my goal, Ranya (Senhaji) was open, and I saw that there was another opening on my side of the field, so I just ran over into the space. I give all the credit on my goal to my teammates, because none of this would have happened without them."

SCORING SUMMARY
22' – Koehler earned possession of the ball and sent a solid pass back to Evans in the left-center portion of the penalty area. Evans battled to maintain possession and took a sweet stepback move with the ball to create space, ultimately pummeling the ball into the back right corner of the goal. MSU 1, NEB 0

36' – Zade battled into a clearing on a breakaway in the 36th minute and sent a pass far post through the air that found Dale. The Cornhusker attacker timed her jump perfectly for the header score to tie things up. MSU 1, NEB 1

66' – The ball was collected by Senhaji and sent down to Koehler on the left side of the field. Koehler outplayed her defender and sent a marvelous right-footed shot into the back right corner for the game-winning goal. MSU 2, NEB 1

UP NEXT
The top-seeded and sixth-ranked Michigan State women's soccer team will face the sixth-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament championship on Sunday, Nov. 6. Kick between MSU and the Nittany Lions is slated for 2 p.m. at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio. Fans interested in attending Sunday's game are encouraged to click here to purchase tickets. The game will also be broadcast to a national television audience via the Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke and Jackie Manny on the call.

FOLLOW THE SPARTANS
Visit MSUSpartans.com for more information on Michigan State women's soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Spartan women's soccer team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @MSU_WSoccer.

Michigan State Reaches B1G Tournament Championship Game, Sets Single-Season Program Win Record

Next Event

Team Stats

Courtney Koehler

Camryn Evans

Ranya Senhaji

Lauren DeBeau