Spartans host Northwestern Sunday
10/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 16, 2010
Michigan State hosts Northwestern in Big Ten action. Sunday's noon kickoff is the start of a women's/men's doubleheader at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans are 2-1-1 in Conference play, and improved to 8-3-2 on the season with a non-conference victory at Oakland on Thursday. Northwestern is 5-6-2, and is winless in its last four conference matches (0-3-1). Both the men's and the women's games will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
Scouting the Spartans
Michigan State is unbeaten in its last four games (3-0-1), has not allowed a goal in that span, dating back to a penalty-kick goal in the 19th minute against Penn State on Sept. 26. Laura Heyboer continues to lead the Spartans in scoring with a 10-2-22 line, and running mate Olivia Stander has six goals and four helpers for 16 points. Annie Steinlage and Megan Pines both have four assists to share the team lead in that category with Stander. Jill Flietstra boasts a .894 saves percentage and a 0.56 GAA.
Another Brick in the Wall
Jill Flietstra is riding a shutout streak of 450:28, dating back to the Penn State game. In all, she has nine shutouts in 12 games. Flietstra has not allowed a goal in the run of play dating back to the first half in a 3-2 loss to Milwaukee on Sept. 5 - a span of 806.09 in which Flietstra has shut out opponents in the run of play. In fact, the only goal allowed in that span was a penalty kick in the 1-0 loss at Penn State.
Looking at the Wildcats
Northwestern is 5-6-2 (1-3-1 Big Ten), and is winless in its last four conference matches (0-3-1), but all three losses were by a goal; the tie was a 1-1 deadlock with Michigan. Northwestern's Kate Allen leads her squad with five goals and an assist; Jill Dunn (2-2-6), Julie Sierks (1-3-5), and Jennifer Baumann (2-0-4) round out the Wildcats' top scorers. Keeper Carolyn Edwards has played all but 11 minutes this season, and owns a 1.01 GAA and .758 save percentage.
No One Better
With her pair of goals on Thursday at Oakland, Laura Heyboer tied Michigan State's career goal record, netting her 38th and 39th against the Golden Grizzlies. Heyboer is now tied with Michele Wise (1986-89) with 39 career markers, and has six games remaining in the regular season of her junior year. Her current 10-2-22 is tied for 21st in points in a single season at MSU - Heyboer also holds a tie for second (51 points in 2008) and 23rd (21 points in an injury-shortened 2009) in the single-season annals. Her five game-winners this season is tied for third in the single-season recordbook and a personal best for the frontrunner, who had four in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. With 13 career game-winners, she sits in second place in that category, two behind school recordholder Lauren Hill.
Race for the Century
Heyboer is five-points shy of the all-time points record; her 39-16-94 line is only behind Wise (39-21-99). The junior is likely to become the school's first 100-point scorer in school history.
Dangerous at Both Ends
While Laura Heyboer rewrites the MSU offensive recordbook, goalie Jill Flietstra is doing her part to require several rewrites on the defensive end as well. . Flietstra currently holds the number one spot for career GAA (0.72), she is currently in eighth for career saves with 142, and is tied for third (with Sara Kloosterman) in shutouts with 16. The junior now stands alone in seventh in career wins (19); eight of which have come in her 12 starts this season.
Nearing a Milestone
Head Coach Tom Saxton needs two wins to reach the 200-win plateau. He is in his 20th season as the head coach at Michigan State, entered the season with a 190-157-34 record, and is coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.
Big Ten Leaders
Several MSU players are maintaining spots in the Big Ten statistical rankings. Laura Heyboer has taken over the Big Ten lead in points (22), points per game (1.69), goals (10), goals per game (0.77), and game-winning goals (5). Olivia Stander is third in game-winners (3), fourth in points (16) and points per game (1.23), sixth in goals (6) and goals per game (0.46), and tied with Annie Steinlage and Megan Pines for seventh in assists (4) and assists per game (0.31). Flietstra is first in saves per game (4.54), shutouts (10), and shutouts per game (0.77). She is second in saves (59) and save percentage (.894), and fourth in goals against average (0.52).
NCAA Notes
MSU stayed at No. 3 in NCAA statistics this week in shutout percentage, thanks to Jill Flietstra's nine shutouts in 12 games so far this season. The Spartans are also in 17th in GAA (.558) and 10th in save percentage (.883). Individually, Flietstra shot up eight spots to 13th in the nation in save percentage with a .883 average and 19th in GAA (.558). Statistics are released every Tuesday.
Big Ten Pundits
MSU was picked fourth in the 2010 Big Ten preseason poll of coaches. Penn State was selected as the league favorite for the eighth consecutive season, followed by Ohio State, Wisconsin, and the Spartans. Following MSU in the poll, in order, is Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, and Iowa.
Players to Watch
Spartan senior Cara Freeman and juniors Laura Heyboer and Jill Flietstra were named to the Big Ten's "Players to Watch" list. Three student-athletes were selected from each school.
