Michigan State women's soccer team breaks school wins record, reaches Big Ten tourney final

Lansing State Journal
·2 min read

The Michigan State women's soccer team added two more achievements to the best season in program history.

The Spartans broke a program record for wins in a season and became the first team in school history to reach the Big Ten tournament championship game with a 2-1 victory over Nebraska in a Big Ten semifinal Thursday at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.

Michigan State's Camryn Evans (left), shown during Sunday's Big Ten quarterfinal win over Minnesota, scored the first goal Thursday in the Spartans' 2-1 semifinal win over Nebraska.
Michigan State's Camryn Evans (left), shown during Sunday's Big Ten quarterfinal win over Minnesota, scored the first goal Thursday in the Spartans' 2-1 semifinal win over Nebraska.

Camryn Evans and Courtney Koehler scored the goals as the sixth-ranked Spartans improved to 16-1-3, eclipsing the school mark of wins in a season previously held by the team in 1986 – MSU's first season sponsoring women's soccer. The top-seeded Spartans advance to play sixth-seeded Penn State, a 2-0 winner over Northwestern in the other semifinal, in Sunday's championship game at 2 p.m. in Columbus. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

"It’s great. After every one of these wins, I always hear about how we set some sort of new record or did something for the first time in a long time," MSU coach Jeff Hosler said. "We are going to keep riding that wave."

Koehler, a freshman midfielder, assisted on Evans' goal in addition to her game-winning goal in the 66th minute.

I just thought, leading up to this game, that everyone on our team has stepped up within their role in our process," Koehler said. "I just saw an opening to make a run, and somehow, I flicked the ball over to Cam and she scored it. Then, on my goal, Ranya (Senhaji) was open, and I saw that there was another opening on my side of the field, so I just ran over into the space. I give all the credit on my goal to my teammates, because none of this would have happened without them.”

Senior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal finished with five saves in picking up her school-record 16th individual win.

"It’s crazy. It’s the same word I’ve been using over the past few weeks; this is all pretty surreal," Hosler said. "This is a special group. It’s amazing to see what commitment, belief, buy-in, and being team-first can do for a group."

– MSU Athletic Communications

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women's soccer: Spartans win 2-1, reach Big Ten final