Michigan State University
8-2-2, 3-0-1
Maryland
3-4-5, 0-3-1
Five Spartans Score Goals in Rout of Maryland
9/28/2023 10:29:00 PM | Women's Soccer
EAST LANSING, Mich. - In one of its most dominating performances of the season, Michigan State women's soccer knocked off Maryland, 5-0, to remain unbeaten in Big Ten play Thursday night at DeMartin Stadium.Â
MSU moves to 8-2-2 (3-0-1 B1G) with the win, while Maryland drops to 3-4-5 (0-3-1). With Thursday's win, the Spartans moved into a tie for first in the league standings with Penn State (10 points), who will visit DeMartin Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 1.Â
"Scoring five goals in one contest in Big Ten play is really difficult to do. I think they (Maryland) have one of the best goal keepers in the league, so it shows our quality going to goal and our focus and discipline to have a shutout," said head coach Jeff Hosler. "This is a good sign for us, both the attacking piece and the defending piece, which will have to be really sharp with a high-powered Penn State team on Sunday." Â
Five Spartans scored goals Thursday night, with senior midfielder Gabby Mueller notching the opening goal before junior forward Jordyn Wickes and senior defender Zivana Labovic found the back of the net later in the first half. Senior forwards MJ Andrus and Ranya Senhaji scored second-half goals to round out the Spartan scoring. Senior midfielders Regan Dalton, Justina Gaynor and Kelly Severini added assists.Â
The Spartans held a 25-3 shot advantage, including a 10-2 edge in shots on goal, while posting a 13-2 advantage in corner kicks. MSU dominated on both sides of the ball, maintaining possession for the majority of the game.Â
The MSU attack was dominant early, collecting a trio of corner kicks in the first seven minutes of the game. Wickes recorded the first shot of the game that went high in the seventh minute before Gaynor found Mueller in the 10th minute, who sent the ball into the right corner of the net in the six-yard box to give the Spartans the early lead. Â
Minutes later, Wickes doubled the MSU lead on a header from Dalton's corner kick to secure the Spartans' first set-piece score of the night in the 16th minute. A second corner kick from Dalton found Labovic in the 20th minute, who headed the ball past the Maryland goalkeeper for the 3-0 Spartan lead. Â
Maryland's best look of the half came in the 32nd minute in a shot to the right corner of the net from Kennedy Bell, but MSU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks easily collected the ball to keep the Terrapins scoreless. MSU recorded a trio of shots in the closing 10 minutes of the half, but was unable to increase its lead, carrying the 3-0 lead into the half.Â
The Spartans continued to dominate possession throughout the half, holding Maryland to a just a pair of shots while maintaining the offensive edge with 10 shots in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Despite MSU generating a number of scoring chances, the opening minutes of the second half proved to be quieter than the first, as the Spartans were unable to add to their 3-0 lead.Â
Andrus reignited the MSU scoring in the 77th minute on a relentless play in front of the Maryland defense, recording a pair of shots that were blocked before regaining control of the ball and sending in a third shot past the Terrapin goalkeeper to increase the Spartan lead to 4-0. Â
A flurry of MSU shots followed in the closing 10 minutes. After Severini's shot from the right side of the box was knocked away by the Maryland goalkeeper, Senhaji collected the deflection and cleaned things up in front of the net to close the Spartan scoring on the night. Severini was credited with the assist.Â
Parks notched her second-straight shutout and tallied a pair of saves in 90 minutes in goal. Terrapin goalkeeper Liz Beardsley was credited with the loss, notching five saves in 90 minutes.Â
The Spartans and fourth-ranked Nittany Lions will face off for the first time since the Big Ten Tournament Championship game on Nov. 6 last season, where Penn State earned a 3-2 win for the tournament title. Sunday's match will kick off at noon on Big Ten Network and is the first game in MSU's Sunday Soccer Doubleheader, followed by the MSU men facing No. 25 Penn State at 3 p.m.Â
Team Stats
Gabby Mueller (3)
Assisted By: Justina Gaynor
GOAL by MSU Mueller, Gabby Assist by Gaynor, Justina.
09:34
Jordyn Wickes (5)
Assisted By: Regan Dalton
GOAL by MSU Wickes, Jordyn Assist by Dalton, Regan.
15:20
Zivana Labovic (3)
Assisted By: Regan Dalton
GOAL by MSU Labovic, Zivana Assist by Dalton, Regan.
19:21
MJ Andrus (2)
GOAL by MSU Andrus, MJ.
76:04
Ranya Senhaji (3)
Assisted By: Kelly Severini
GOAL by MSU Senhaji, Ranya Assist by Severini, Kelly.
87:35
