Michigan State University
6-10-1Big Ten 3-7-0
Penn State
10-3-4Big Ten 6-1-3
Spartans Upset No. 16 Penn State on Senior Day
10/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Emotions were running high at DeMartin Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 22, when the Michigan State women's soccer team upset No. 16 Penn State 3-1 on senior day.
In their last home game of the season, the Spartans improved to 6-10-1 on the year, and 3-7-0 in the Big Ten conference. Penn State, who was first in the Big Ten standings, drops to 10-3-4 overall and MSU gave the Nittany Lions their first loss in conference play as they now stand at 6-1-3.
"I am really happy for our seniors, they are great people," said head coach Tom Saxton. "I am also happy for the whole team, they have put a lot of effort in to our matches this year. We played a great schedule, showed we could play with some good teams, but we just weren't getting rewarded, so to see them coming off the field smiling after defeating the national defending champions is something special."
The first 15 minutes of action showed much needed defensive efforts for MSU, as redshirt junior goalkeeper Savanna Wojtanowski made four stops and the team stopped two Nittany Lion corner kicks.
Michigan State answered to Penn State's pressure when they took the 1-0 lead in the 20th minute. Sophomore Michaela Kovacs pushed a pass up to junior Madison Duncan who dribbled up the right side crossing the ball over the net to connect with junior Morgan McKerchie. McKerchie flipped the ball past the outstreched keepers hands to notch her first goal of the season.
MSU didn't stop there as they picked up their second goal of the game right before the half ended. On a counter attack Madison Duncan sent the ball up to redshirt freshman Brittany Tanner, where she found junior Jamie Cheslik who slipped by a Nittany Lion defender to give the Spartans the 2-0 advantage in the 43rd minute.
Penn State may have outshot Michigan State 15-6 in the first half, but the Spartans still controlled the game with the 2-0 lead. Wojtanowski recorded seven saves through the first 45 minutes of play.
It was a back-and-forth second half, each team drawing three corner kicks for scoring opportunities but the game remained 2-0 until the 86th minute where PSU found the back of the net for its lone goal of the day.
MSU led 2-1 with five minutes left to play, but added the final touch in the 90th minute when Cheslik notched her second goal of the game to seal the 3-1 victory. The Spartans blocked a Penn State shot then Cheslik broke free to score in the final 30 seconds.
Wojtanowski tied the Michigan State women's soccer single-game record with 14 saves in Saturday's match. She tied her assistant coach Stacy DeLonge's record who recorded the 14 saves on October 4, 2002.
"First of all these seniors are great people, and great student athletes," said Saxton. "They come from a variety of backgrounds and a variety of experiences, but they have been great leaders. We have shown resilience this year. We have been on a losing streak and they could have hung their head and waited for the end of the season, but as you see today they want to keep fighting for each other and that is a credit to our seniors."
Michigan State has one more regular-season game on Wednesday, Oct. 26 on the road against Purdue. Kick at Folk Field is set for 7 p.m. under the lights.
Team Stats
McKerchie, Morgan (2)
Assisted By: Duncan, Madison , Cheslik, Jamie
Cross from Duncan on the right side off
19:51
Cheslik, Jamie (3)
Assisted By: Tanner, Brittany , Duncan, Madison
Tanner up the right side, pass ahead to
42:05
Frannie Crouse (12)
Assisted By: Haleigh Echard
Cross from 15 on the left side.
85:05
Cheslik, Jamie (5)
Counter attack
89:27
