EAST LANSING — After breaking a 13-game losing streak against Notre Dame to begin the season, the No. 8 Michigan State women’s soccer team opened its home schedule Thursday night with a top 10 matchup with No. 9 Arkansas.
A record-breaking crowd of 3,180 showed up at DeMartin Stadium and saw a combined 26 shots and 16 corner kicks as the two teams battled to a 2-2 draw.
“The environment was great. Having Spartan Nation show out like they did today for a home opener and an opportunity to see two top 10-level teams makes it pretty special,” MSU coach Jeff Hosler said. “Having that buzz in DeMartin really helps our players on the field and as a team, and it certainly helped drive our team in the second half.”
MSU opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Providence transfer Meg Hughes made a run down the left sideline before delivering a ball into the box. Graduate forward Mackenzie Anthony was there and put a shot past the Arkansas keeper to put the Spartans in front.
“I locked eyes with (defender) Taya (Hjorth) and she played a great through ball to me,” Hughes said. “I use my speed to my advantage and I felt like I could beat some of their defenders in the run. I saw (Anthony) and just knew I had to get the ball past that first defender and it did. It found her foot and she put it away.”
Arkansas responded with a goal in the 22nd minute, but with the game leveled at 1-1, MSU midfielder Emily Matthews drew a foul in the penalty area with just 7 seconds remaining in the first half.
Junior forward Emerson Sargeant would take the penalty shot, which rang off the crossbar and stayed out. Arkansas used that momentum to come out blazing in the first five minutes of the second half, eventually scoring to take a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute.
Sargeant would redeem herself in the 53rd minute, where after taking a defender on and beating her along the sideline, Sargeant whipped a cross in front and reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Bella Najera was waiting to flick it into the net.
“We had to regroup, but I loved the response I saw in the second half,” Hosler said. “Seeing (Sargeant) being relentless and playing with bite, she’s going to be a difficult player for teams to match up with. I think we had two 5-minute stretches in the second half where we weren’t good, but I think we’ll go back on film and look at a few moments we wish we had back because this outcome could have been different.”
Razorback defender Avery Wren received a second yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct in the 70th minute, disqualifying her and leaving Arkansas down to 10 players for the final stretch. During that time, MSU pressed to find an equalizer, and despite numerous chances and 12 shots in the second half, the Spartans settled for the draw.
MSU (1-0-1) will return to action on Sunday, where it will host Ohio at 1 p.m. MSU ousted the Bobcats 3-0 in the first round of last season’s NCAA tournament.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott
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Publish date : 2024-08-22 16:49:00
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