Michigan State Women’s Soccer Is Having One Of Its Best Seasons Ever!

If you have not already, start paying attention to this team

For those of you who read Mike’s piece earlier this week about the rest of the MSU sports scene, then you would have read about how our women’s soccer team is having a fantastic season. In fact, the team just suffered their first defeat of the season this past Sunday after going 14 games without a loss to begin the season. Their sole defeat came in the second game of a trip to the Pacific Northwest. After a 0-0 tie at Oregon, they went up to Washington and fell 2-1 after giving up the winner in the 86th minute.

The 14 straight games without a loss to start the season is the best in program history. And despite the excessive (in my opinion) drop in their ranking in the new poll, falling from 5 to 21, there are still a lot of reasons to believe this team could, and should, do big things with their season. They are looking to build on their 2023 performance when they finished 14-5-3 and made it to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament (64 team field). This year, they still have three regular season games remaining, home games against Wisconsin (10/17), Northwestern (10/20), and Purdue (10/27). All games can be seen on BTN+. After that, the Big Ten tournament takes place beginning on Halloween.

So what, or rather who, makes this year’s team so good? I mean, they were ranked as high as #1 at one point this year, so we can assume there is some serious talent on this roster. This starts on defense. In 15 games, MSU has allowed only 11 goals, or .73 goals per game. MSU has shut the other team out in eight games so far while allowing just one goal in three games and two goals in the other four. At the very back end, primary goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks has been phenomenal with her 82% save percentage.

MSU has varied their formation from game to game. Some games they have gone with a 4-3-1-2 (4 defense, 3 midfielders, 1 forward, and 2 strikers) and sometimes they have utilized a 5-2-1-2 to really fortify the defense. Sofia Beerworth, Maggie Illig, Renee Watson, and Julia Belli have all been starting consistently and helping MSU’s opponents only get 4.2 shots on goal per game which, again, are mostly saved by the woman in net, Parks.

Offensively, the women’s team is led by midfielder Emily Mathews and striker Meg Hughes, who each have scored six goals in 2024. Midfielder Justina Gaynor and Bella Najera, who usually occupies that single spot between the midfielders and strikers have each tallied four goals. In total, 12 different Spartans have scored goals this season including Kaitlyn Parks. Yes, the goalie scored a goal (it was a penalty kick)! Their 32 goals come out to a little over two per game, but there have been a few contests where they were really clicking. They have had games with four, five, and six goals scored.

So this team has won games by blowing their opponents out and by narrow one-goal margins. No matter what the game situation is, this is a strong squad that plays a tough and disciplined brand of soccer. They are defense-oriented and use ball control to generate their offensive attack. They have three games remaining in the regular season to snap out of their longest losing streak of the season (one game) and get ready for the postseason.

Last year, they made the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament. This year, with a team that is clearly playing at a higher level than they were in 2023, it is beyond reasonable to expect a deeper run, maybe even to a Final Four. If you are not already paying attention, it is time to start.

GO GREEN! GO WHITE!