U-M Falls in Rivalry Game at Michigan State

Wednesday, October 12

East Lansing, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

8-5-2, 3-3-1B1G

Michigan State

11-4-0, 4-3-0B1G

MICHIGAN

Michigan State

10/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Brad Rudner

Site: East Lansing, Mich. (DeMartin Soccer Complex)
Score: Michigan State 2, Michigan 0
Records: U-M (8-5-2, 3-3-1 Big Ten), MSU (11-4-0, 4-3-0)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Oct. 16 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 1 p.m.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's soccer team fell to its in-state rival Michigan State, 2-0, on Wednesday (Oct. 12) at MSU's DeMartin Soccer Complex.

The majority of the first half was played on Michigan's side of the field, as the Wolverines only mustered one shot in the first 45 minutes compared to Michigan State's 12. The Spartans had two great chances in the final minutes of the half, as Olivia Stander's corner kick bounced off the far post and back into play. The ball settled to Mikki Dennis, but her shot on goal was saved by U-M senior/junior goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer (Troy, Mich./Lahser).

Michigan State broke the scoreless tie in the 71st minute on a goal from Megan Marsack. The ball was sent in off a corner kick, and after Paige Wester headed it, the ball managed to fall right to Marsack, who tipped it in. Six minutes later, Michigan State scored again, this time on a goal from Laura Heyboer, who split the Michigan defense and chipped the ball right to left past Kopmeyer to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.

Michigan was outshot, 18-7, in the game. Kopmeyer made four saves in the contest.

The Wolverines return to the field on Sunday (Oct. 16), when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to play Purdue. The game will start at 1 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	0	0	0
Michigan State	0	2	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- MSU, Megan Marsack, 70:41 (Paige Wester, Hannah Peterson)
2nd -- MSU, Laura Heyboer, 76:24 (Megan Pines)

Shots: U-M 8, MSU 17
Shots on Goal: U-M 5, MSU 6
Saves: U-M 4 (Haley Kopmeyer), MSU 5 (Jill Flietstra)
Corner Kicks: U-M 3, MSU 8
Cards: None

NOTES

• Michigan played the game without sophomore forward Nkem Ezurike, who was forced to sit out one game after receiving her fifth yellow card of the season against Northwestern last Saturday. Ezurike will return to the lineup for the team's game Sunday (Oct. 16) at Purdue.

• Michigan falls to 8-5-7 all-time against Michigan State. The Wolverines haven't won in East Lansing since 1998, and haven't beaten its in-state rivals since 2003.

• Freshmen Keyana Thompson-Shaw, Karin Thomas, Cara Richard, Ali Speck and Megan Schechtman came off the bench against Michigan State. All five played in their second game this season.

• Prior to Michigan State's first goal, neither team had scored a goal in the last 330:46, a stretch that dated back to the 2008 match-up.

• It was Michigan's first road loss since Sept. 4 at Pepperdine.

• The game can be seen on the Big Ten Network tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 13) at 12:30 p.m.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Greg Ryan
On the bench play ... "I was really pleased. We knew this would be a difficult day for us. It was great to see some people come off the bench and give us a boost. Jen Pace had the best chance for us on goal all day. Kim Siebert had one of her best games of the season."

On stopping Michigan State's offensive attack ... "A lot of shots, but they were mostly from distance and under pressure. Unfortunately, it's a game of mistakes, and we made a few today. Laura Heyboer is so opportunistic, but I thought our defense played great all day long. We were under pressure all day long, but I thought our defense, and Haley, played fantastic. It's hard to say that when we lost by two."

On what he told the team after the game ... "We knew we were shorthanded today, and we were playing without Nkem, our target player, and that's very hard to do. We're still trying to adjust to [Meghan] Toohey's loss in the midfield. We're going to put this one behind us. Every team has a bad day, and this was ours."