Michigan State University
Wisconsin
Spartans Fall In Big Ten Tournament Semifinal, 2-1
11/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 4, 2005
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Michigan State women's soccer team took a 2-1 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers Friday afternoon at the Michigan Soccer Field in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Wisconsin scored the game winning goal at 89:43 to seal the victory. Michigan State fell to 12-8-2 and Wisconsin improves to 11-5-5 and moves on to the Big Ten Championship Game.
At the 22:49 mark, sophomore defender Taryn Lee (Saginaw) slid a pass to senior attacker Emma Harris (Portage) who knocked the ball past two Badger defenders and goalkeeper Lynn Murray for her 13th goal of the season, giving State the 1-0 advantage. The goal gives Harris 79 career points, which ties her for third all-time at MSU.
Less than 10 minutes later, Wisconsin countered with a goal of its own. A corner kick set the Badgers up in the Spartan zone. After a clearing attempt, UW recovered the ball and Marisa Brown completed a pass to Jessica Ring in the box who put the ball into the MSU net to tie the game, 1-1. The game remained tied at halftime.
Wisconsin had the better share of scoring chances in the second stanza. Its best chance came in the 77th minute when attacker Amy Vermeulen made a play to get behind the MSU defenders; however Spartan sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Galas (Sterling Heights) came out of the net and made a great play on the ball to make the save. Galas made two saves against UW.
MSU's best second half chance came with eight minutes remaining when Kristi Timar (So., Commerce Township) played the ball up to Dana Voorheis (Sr., Saginaw) who crossed the ball in front of the badger goal. Senior midfielder Erin Konheim (West Bloomfield) headed the ball just high of the goal.
Wisconsin attacker Amy Vermeulen got a break behind the MSU defensive line and beat Galas one-on-one with just 17 seconds left on the clock to give the Badgers the 2-1 victory.
The loss marks the end of the MSU run in the Big Ten Tournament. Next, MSU will wait to see if it will be selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection program will be on Sunday, Nov. 6. For more information visit us on the web at www.msuspartans.com.
