FIRST HALF FLURRY LEADS SPARTANS PAST THUNDERBIRDS
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Junior Sadie Misiewicz scored two first-half goals to pace the Michigan State women’s soccer team to a season-opening 2-0 win over Southern Utah Friday in front of 634 at DeMartin Stadium.
The win marks the seventh-straight year the Spartans have started the season unbeaten.
How It Happened: MSU controlled possession from kickoff, keeping the ball on the offensive side of the field and putting pressure on the Thunderbird back line. Sophomore midfielder Bella Jodzis had the first chance to get on the board in the 16th minute. Her blast from 17-yards out was headed for the net before SUU goalkeeper Brianna Aldridge got a fingertip on it to deflect the ball off the crossbar.
The Spartans did find their first goal of the season in the 22nd minute after two passes found an open Misiewicz in front of the goal. Sophomore midfielder Danielle Stephan started a run down the right side, flicking the ball in to sophomore forward Michelle Herring who crossed it to Misiewicz on the far post, and she finished by beating Aldridge.
Misiewicz found herself with more room to attack in the 31st minute, this time doing the work by herself. She chased down a ball from several yards back, stopping it from crossing the endline, before beating a defender 1v1 and finishing with a strike to the far post that made it 2-0.
MSU held the Thunderbirds without a shot in the first half and didn’t allow SUU to take their first chance until the 52nd minute, ultimately holding a 19-3 advantage when the final whistle blew. 11 shots from The Spartans came on goal and they took eight corner kicks to just one for the Thunderbirds.
“Definitely love shutouts and Sadie had a couple of great goals in the first half, so that was good for her to get off to a nice start like that,” MSU head coach Tom Saxton said. “I would have liked to see a couple other players get on the scoreboard and they were there for the taking. I don’t think we crashed the box like we needed to.”
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Reilley Ott recorded her first win of the season in goal for MSU, playing all 90 minutes and making one save. Jodzis and Herring took five shots each for the Spartans, while Misiewicz tallied three.
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