Late Rally Falls Short for Women's Soccer

Sept. 5, 2010

Milwaukee, Wis. - A second-half rally with goals by Olivia Stander and Laura Heyboer wasn't enough for the Michigan State women's soccer team on Sunday, as the squad fell, 3-2, to the Milwaukee Panthers in a road contest. The Spartans had allowed three first-half goals to the home team, and it proved to be too much of a lead to overcome.

The Panthers got on the board in the 10th minute with a Sarah Hagen tally, then doubled their lead at 26:52 when Makenzie Gillaspie headed the ball past Jill Flietstra to finish off a corner play. The true dagger for the Spartans came in the 34th minute, when Keara Thompson took a feed from Nicole Sperl and Hagen and converted UW-Milwaukee's third tally of the day.

The Spartans made necessary adjustments at halftime, and shut out the Panthers the rest of the way. Heyboer's goal in the 47th minute got MSU back into the game, as Heyboer took a pass from Megan Pines and beat a defender one-on-one for her third goal of the season. Stander brought MSU within a goal in the 53rd minute, also off an assist from Pines.

Flietstra made six saves on the afternoon, while her counterpart, Leslie Deebach, picked up the victory with a five-save effort.

The Spartans are back in action on Friday when they host Big East foe DePaul at DeMartin Stadium.