2022 Women's Soccer Preview

8/16/2022 1:07:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Spartans Prepare to Enter 37th Season, Ready to Build on Last Year's Success

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The 2022 Michigan State women's soccer team returns to the pitch hungry to improve upon last season's impressive and rapid turnaround. The Spartans finished the 2021 campaign going undefeated in non-conference play, generating a 10-5-3 overall record and 5-4-1 mark in Big Ten play good enough for fourth place. The Spartans also qualified for the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in a decade while hosting the quarterfinal for the first time in 20 years. That experience has them working and prepared for even more in 2022.

2022 Schedule
The Spartans' second year under head coach Jeff Hosler features a very difficult non-conference schedule. Michigan State's schedule is one of the toughest in the nation heading into the season.

"If we're left out of the NCAA tournament this year, it's not going to be due to a lack of strength of schedule. As the season begins this is a Top-25 toughest schedule in the country. We are really excited about the challenges that lie ahead," Hosler said. "We don't ease into the season, with two very difficult contests on the road at MAC Champion, Bowling Green, before heading to play at Cincinnati." Other games that are highlighted are home matches against Dartmouth and Colorado with a match at Arkansas, which is one of the toughest places in the country to play. Hosler added,
"We feel like we've set up a diverse non-conference schedule to prepare us for Big Ten play both stylistically and through competitive level."

Michigan State was picked to finish sixth in the highly competitive Big Ten by the league's coaches in the 2022 Preseason Poll. Penn State and Rutgers were predicted to tie for the Big Ten title.

Goalkeepers
Despite losing leading scorer and second-team All-Big Ten honoree Ava Cook, the Spartans return a plethora of weapons. MSU continues to be led by 2021 All-American senior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal, who was named a 2022 Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch after her sensational 2021 campaign. She ended last season with a 0.70 goals against average and seven shutouts.

"Kozal, I think is quickly becoming the best goalkeeper in the country. She is an incredible athlete with great hands, range and field presence. Her ability with her feet is a real separator, which is exactly what we need in our possession-based playing style," Hosler said.

Behind Kozal are a pair of goalkeepers who continue to get better every season. Redshirt sophomore Ellie Thallman and redshirt freshman Belle Okororafo will be capable backups for Kozal, showing tremendous growth in one year's time. Despite Kozal playing every minute last season, both Thallman and Okororafo saw significant minutes this spring and in fall exhibitions and are ready if their number is called.

"At the goalkeeper position, I think we're really fortunate because we have three very talented kids that work really hard and are focused on getting better each time out," Hosler added. "I give a lot of credit to Ellie and Belle, because they're in a situation where they have, in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in the country, playing in front of them. They haven't allowed themselves to settle. They continue to push themselves and grow while pushing her."

Defenders
The MSU backline is loaded with talent and experience. Graduate seniors Samantha White, Abby Gardiner and Ruby Diodati, along with Senior Reagan Cox and Junior Transfer Kelly Severini, form a veteran stifling backline which has garnered plenty of preseason accolades. White and Diodati were recognized with Kozal as Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch, while White and Severini were tabbed NCAA Division I Defenders to Watch by the United Soccer Coaches.

White was an All-Region honoree in 2021 for the Spartans, while Diodati transferred to MSU from Colgate, and Severini joined the Spartans after transferring from Hartford.

Last season, the MSU backline anchored by White, Gardiner, Cox and Kozal allowed only 13 goals in 18 games. Senior defender Bria Schrotenboer returns to Michigan State after transferring from Duke. She is a strong technical player and dominant aerial player, who provides a lot of leadership, experience and confidence in the backline.

"If you look at our backline that's probably our most competitive group because of the depth and experience that we have there," Hosler said. "Sam White and Abby Gardiner are returning at center back for their COVID years after a great 2021 together, which was Abby's first full year at center back. She had a great transition on the field and may be playing the best of anyone in that position group at the moment."

"Ruby has great positional versatility, and I think she's been very effective as an outside back and center back and even effective in the midfield. We also return Raegan Cox, who was an everyday starter for us at right back. I think she is playing the best soccer of her career at the moment," added Hosler.

Also looking to add depth for the Spartans in the back are a pair of transfers. Junior Mia Hansen, who comes to MSU from Grand Valley after winning a National Championship last fall, adds big game experience with toughness, tackling and a wide attack. Michigan State continues to build on a tough defense with added weapons and versatility.

Four new faces to the Spartan defense looking to challenge for playing time are freshmen Isa Agrusso, Ella Alati, Allie Mairn and Maia Soulis. Sophomore Andi Wolfe will be another piece to the defensive puzzle.

Midfielders

The Spartan midfield returns two of MSU's top five leading scorers from last year in junior Zivana Labovic and senior Lauren DeBeau. Labovic was second in scoring last season with four goals and two assists for 10 points, while DeBeau was tied for third with two goals and two assists. Both of DeBeau's goals were game winners.

"We are excited about what another year of experience brings for Zivana, Lauren and Justina (Gaynor) in that midfield group," Hosler said. "They had a great fall 2021 campaigns and have all taken steps forward. Their partnership in the midfield has led us to even better combination play and more dangerous moments, and it's going to be key that our midfielders create more than last year to generate goals."

The addition of graduate senior Celia Gaynor from Butler at the semester has paid dividends, Celia will join her sister, Justina, for her final collegiate season. Celia, Senior Ally Childers and Regan Dalton will vie for minutes, while freshmen Courtney Koehler and Emerson Sargeant have had solid starts to the pre-season as freshman. Other Spartans to keep an eye out for are freshmen Morgan Gerak and Ella Osmussen.

Forwards

After the amazing season that Ava Cook had last season, the Spartans are looking to replace her firepower from the forward unit. Cook ended her senior season with seven goals and three assists for a team-leading 17 points.

"Everyone wants to know how we are going to replace Ava Cook. I think the answer is collectively, where I think the sum of our parts in the attack are deeper and more versatile than a season ago. We were able to implement a lot of ideas this past spring and that has translated well into our fall prep. Up top, there are a lot of different combinations that we will continue to play with and can provide very different looks based on our specific tactics on the day", Hosler said.

Cam Evans and Jordyn Wickes return and were tied for third on the team in scoring last season with six points. Evans scored three goals, while Wickes added two goals and two assists last season. With the addition of South Carolina transfer Ranya Senhaji, MSU has a solid core of goal scorers.

"At the moment, Cam is playing her best soccer of her college career. She's a re-focused player, and she scored a couple goals in exhibitions, which boosts her confidence. Jordyn has worked incredibly hard this summer to get ready for this fall. There's been a couple practices where she's been the best player on the field," said Hosler. "And as she reaches more consistency in her play, I think she will be a real weapon. We are so excited about Ranya joining us. She had a very good career at South Carolina before transferring. MJ (Andrus) has gotten better and is starting to figure things out tactically while Maggie (Illig) has made a strong impact for us as a freshman."

Freshmen Sierra Curtis (Florida State transfer) and Maddie Brady will add depth up top for the Spartans this season as well.

The Spartans have solid pieces in place, with now a full year of building out a culture and style of play. They will look to build on what was an outstanding 2021 season. Michigan State opens the 2022 regular season with a pair of road games at Bowling Green on Thursday, Aug. 18 and at Cincinnati on Sunday, Aug. 21.