Spartan Women's Soccer Travels to Illinois This Weekend

Friday, October 11

Evanston, Ill.

8 pm

Michigan State University

Northwestern

10/10/2019 3:05:00 PM | Women's Soccer

MSU Game Notes Watch Live Live Stats

Michigan State will take on Northwestern on Friday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. before traveling to Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's soccer takes to the road for the last time during the regular season, with two matches in Illinois. MSU will travel to Northwestern on Oct. 11 for a Friday night match up in Evanston at 8 p.m. ET. The team will close out its road schedule at Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. ET.

Michigan State currently sits at 8-4-1 on the season, with a 1-3-1 mark in Big Ten play.

Both games this week will be streamed online on BTN+.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans look to bounce back after a tough weekend of conference play. MSU traveled to Minnesota and battled to a 0-0 draw with the Gophers on Oct. 3, before falling to Iowa at home, 3-0, on Oct. 6.

Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Lauren Kozal had a career-best performance in the draw at Minnesota, making nine saves to shutout the Gophers throughout the 110 minutes.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
At the midpoint of conference play, the race for postseason play is in full swing. Wisconsin is the only team left undefeated in the Big Ten. The Badgers lead the Big Ten with 15 points and a 5-0-0 mark. Michigan follows with 13 points and a 4-1-1 record.

Wisconsin (No. 12) and Rutgers (No. 21) are the two Big Ten teams in the United Soccer Coaches poll, with two other teams receiving votes. Iowa and Michigan both received votes in the Oct. 8 poll.

DOWN THE STRETCH
Michigan State looks to close out the away portion of its schedule on a positive note, before ending the regular season with a four-game homestand. The Spartans will play in-state rival Michigan in a doubleheader with the men's team on Saturday, Oct. 19 to begin the homestand. MSU will then host Maryland and No. 21 Rutgers at home on Oct. 24 and 27, respectively.

Michigan State will close the season against Indiana at home on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in the regular season finale for both teams. The team's were originally scheduled to play on Sept. 27, but inclement weather caused the game to be postponed.

DEFENDING DEMARTIN
MSU boasts a home record of 6-1-0 this season, which marks the most wins at home since 2012 when the team had seven home wins.

The Spartans have recorded three shutouts in East Lansing. The three clean sheets at home are the most since the 2015 season when the team also shut out three opponents.

SPARTANS AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Gia Wahlberg, Camryn Evans and Danielle Stephan are both ranked nationally in total goals and total assists, respectively.

With her eight goals this season, Wahlberg is tied for first in the Big Ten and is tied for 19th nationally in total goals scored.

Wahlberg has scored the most goals by a Spartan in a single-season since Laura Heyboer scored 18 goals during the 2011 season. The forward is also tied for third nationally with four-game winning goals.

Evans and Stephan are tied with a team-high five assists in the first 13 games, which is good for third in the Big Ten. Stephan led the Spartans in assists for the past two seasons, tallying six in 2017 and four last season.

FRESHMEN IN THE LINEUP
True freshmen Paige Webber and Bria Schrotenboer have earned starting positions in the Spartan lineup this season.

Webber is the only freshman to start in all 13 games this season and has 10 points with four goals and two assists to begin her rookie campaign.

Schrotenboer has started in 10 games on the Spartan backline this season.The freshman missed three games at the beginning of the season to train with the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team in California.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
MSU heads to Evanston to face off against Northwestern. The Spartans lead the series with the Wildcats, 13-10-1. The two teams didn't meet last season, but in 2017, the Wildcats bested the Spartans, 1-0, in East Lansing.

The Wildcats have an overall record of 4-6-2 and a conference record of 2-2-1. Their two conference wins come from victories over Nebraska and Iowa.

Last week, Northwestern battled to a 0-0 draw vs. Purdue at home on Oct. 3, before falling to Rutgers on the road, 2-0, on Oct. 6.

The Wildcats are led by true freshman defender Danika Austin who is from Jenison, Michigan. She leads the team in points with five. She has one goal and a team-high three assists.

SCOUTING THE ILLINI
Illinois leads the series with the Michigan State 19-3-2. The most recent matchup between the two programs resulted in a Fighting Illini win, 1-0, in Champaign. The Spartans are looking for their first win over the Fighting Illini since 2002.

Illinois has an overall record of 7-5 and a conference record of 1-4. The team is searching for their first win in three matches.

Illinois is led by junior midfielder Hope Breslin, who leads the team with 12 points, with four goals and four assists. She has four of the teams 12 total goals.
Illinois hosts Michigan at home on Friday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m., before the match up with the Spartans on Sunday.

MICHIGAN STATE NOTES
The Spartans have had seven different goal scorers through the first 13 matches. The seven goal scorers tops last season's numbers, with there only being six goal scorers through all 18 games in 2018.

After not recording an overtime win in the past two seasons, MSU has two overtime wins in the first 13 games. Michigan State is 2-0-1 in overtime games this season.

Through 13 games, the Spartans have 23 total goals, which ranks third in the Big Ten. The 23 goals are already the most in a season since 2014 when the team scored 24 total goals.

DONNING THE 'C'
Seniors Michaela Kovacs and Sadie Misiewicz have been named the two captains for the 2019 season. Kovacs' is a three-year captain for Michigan State.

PRESEASON HONORS
Sophomore forward Camryn Evans, senior defender Michaela Kovacs and freshman defender Bria Schrotenboer were selected to the Big Ten Women's Soccer Preseason Honors List.

SAXTON SAYS
"We've had a bounce back attitude within games and between games and we have to show that again. We have to be ready to get back at it after a disappointment on Sunday. I'm confident that the attitude will be right, the mindset will be right; that's important. The other thing I think we all realize conference-wide is how jumbled and tight the race is so every game now is a qualifying game. I look at the road games as opportunities and I think anybody can beat anybody in this league right now. We just have to be at our very best Friday night and take advantage of an opportunity. I think we can have some success this weekend, we can come back for the home-stand down the stretch in great shape."