Women's Soccer Faces Maryland on Wednesday
10/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
EAST LANSING - The Michigan State women's soccer team will head to Maryland to take on the Terrapins on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The game was previously scheduled for Oct.4, but was postponed due to inclement weather.
MSU enters Wednesday's contest at 7-4-4 overall and 3-3-2 in the Big Ten. With 12 points, the Spartans currently sit in ninth place, one point behind Illinois for the eighth and final slot in the Big Ten Tournament race (Nov. 1, 6, 8).
"We just need to shut off the noise and keep playing the game. We still have a lot of soccer left to play," said MSU head coach Tom Saxton after Sunday's loss to Wisconsin.
Michigan State will be playing its third consecutive road game, coming off a weekend in which it went 1-1 by defeating 11th-ranked Minnesota, 1-0, on Oct. 15 and then falling to conference-leading Wisconsin, 1-0, on Oct. 18.
Maryland is winless in the conference at 0-7-1 and is 5-10-1 overall, however five of its last six games have been decided by just a goal, including four games that went into double overtime. The Terps are 4-5 at home this season.
The defensive-minded Spartans have allowed only five goals in Big Ten play, which is tied for the second fewest in the league. The team's 0.59 goals-against average is fourth best. Goaltender Gabrielle Gauruder leads the Big Ten in conference games with a .896 save percentage, while her 5.4 saves per game average ranks third.
Offensively, the Spartans' last five goals have all come from different players. Freshman Lexy Warner leads all Spartans with 10 points (3g, 4a).
Wednesday will be the Spartans' second trip to Maryland in as many years as the teams played to a tie last season in College Park.
