MSU Women's Soccer to Fifth Win In Six Games
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Freshman forward Camryn Evans scored her third and fourth goals of the season, while redshirt-junior goalkeeper Reilley Ott recorded her fifth shutout to lead Michigan State to a 2-0 win over Oakland Thursday at DeMartin Stadium.
The Spartans improve to 5-0-1 this season with the victory as Oakland drops to 0-6 in 2018.
How It Happened: MSU broke through in the 22nd minute thanks to an aggressive run from Evans. Sophomore midfielder Bella Jodzis played a ball well in front, allowing Evans to run it down and make Oakland keeper Jaimie Leas come off her line. She finished by beating Leas to her left making it 1-0.
"Cam brings a work ethic up front for us," MSU head coach Tom Saxton said. "We're definitely a blue collar team, not too fancy, and we try to outwork our opponents. Cam leads from the front line and starts our pressure. She puts herself in position to score, and while she left a couple out there; she also scored a couple nice ones. I think as Cam gains experience she'll be able to put up more numbers."
The Spartans took that lead into the halftime break, outshooting the Golden Grizzlies by a 6-4 mark in the first 45 minutes.
Evans put away her second goal of the game in the 50th minute, rebounding her first shot off the crossbar with a blast to the net from 7-yards out before Leas could get back in position.
Ott, the reigning Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week, made six saves including a spectacular jumping punch save in the 83rd minute to preserve the shutout. The Spartan back line, anchored by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, Michaela Kovacs, has been solid this season. The redshirt-junior, who missed all but three games of the 2017 season with an injury, is part of the MSU defense that has allowed just one goal in six games.
"We've got good leadership with Reilley in goal and a very experienced and talented player Mouse (Michaela) back now," Saxton said. "We also have some really committed and hard workers around them with Maddy V (Madison VanDyke) and the two Pennsylvania kids Samantha White and Athena Biondi. They're tenacious, and it's been a big improvement. That back line starts everything, and it's about the rest of the team doing their job."
Up Next: MSU plays host to No. 23 Colorado (5-0-1) for a 12 p.m. kickoff on Alumni Day Sunday at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans will welcome back former players and honor them at halftime against the Buffaloes.
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