Badgers Fall to Spartans, 2-1
October 19, 2007 | Women's Soccer
The Wisconsin women's soccer team fell to Michigan State, 2-1, Friday afternoon at Old College Field in East Lansing, Mich. The Badgers dropped to 5-8-1 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State improved to 6-8-1 overall and 1-6-0 in the conference.
In a relatively quiet first half of play, Wisconsin out-shot Michigan State 6-to-4, however was unable to capitalize on the shot attempts. Going into the break, the score was tied
0-0.
Michigan State got on the board first, when Lauren Hill headed the ball in for a goal at the 64:45 mark. An assist was credited to Maureen Pawlak on Hill's sixth goal of the season.
In the 72nd minute, the Badgers responded, evening the score 1-1. On her fifth shot of the game, junior Taylor Walsh (Madison, Wis.) netted her fourth goal of the season, when she caught a pass from the left and struck it 20 yards from the center. Senior Sheri Ferron (Brookfield, Wis.) recorded her second assist of the year on the goal.
Nearly 10 minutes later, the Spartans struck again, tallying the game-winner. This time, from the center, Pawlak collected a pass from the right, finding the back of the net from 15 yards out, giving MSU a one goal advantage over the UW in the 82nd minute. Credited with assists were Lauren Sincola and Lauren Astry.
'It was an evenly matched game in terms of scoring opportunities and shots, ' head coach Paula Wilkins said. 'Michigan State was able to finish on its scoring opportunities better than we were today. We had two or three clear-cut goals and were unable to finish, but that's the game of soccer.'
Wisconsin and Michigan State each recorded 12 shots in the game, however MSU was able to put four shots-on-goal compared to UW's two.
In goal for the Badgers, Jamie Klages tallied two saves in the game, while Spartans keeper Nicole Galas stopped one shot in the match.
Wisconsin travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sunday to take on Big Ten foe Michigan. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Fans can follow along by via Gametracker by clicking event=598223&school=mich&sport=wsoccer%20"> --> here .
'Now we need to re-organize and focus on some of the things we talked about early in the season,' Wilkins said about preparing for Michigan on Sunday. 'We need to make this a battle and refocus what we need to do to get a win on Sunday.'
