Oct. 16, 2014
East Lansing, Mich.
DeMartin Soccer Stadium
Michigan State 2 (9-5-1, 3-5-1 Big Ten), Ohio State 1 (5-8-2, 2-5-2 Big Ten)
Attendance: 380
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Ohio State women’s soccer team fell to Michigan State, 2-1, on Paige Wester’s game-winning header in the 90th minute Thursday afternoon at DeMartin Soccer Stadium in East Lansing, Mich. With the loss, the Buckeyes fall to 5-8-2 overall, 2-5-2 in conference play, while the Spartans improve to 9-5-1, 3-5-1 in the Big Ten.
Michigan State took the early lead just over a minute in when Allyson Krause finished a rebound from six yards of a shot by Wester to give the Spartans the 1-0 advantage.
Krause almost doubled the lead in the 16th minute when she possessed a long ball on the right wing from Jamie Cheslik but her shot from 10 yards caromed off the far post and was cleared away.
The Buckeyes best opportunity came in the 43rd minute when Nichelle Prince found Katelyn Kraft with a nice through ball but Kraft’s shot from 15 yards narrowly drifted wide left as the Spartans took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Michigan State held a 10-9 lead in shots over the first 45 minutes with Ohio State leading 5-3 in shots on goal.
Things stayed quiet until the 75th minute when Kayla Varner found Prince with a through ball and the Buckeye sophomore lofted a shot from 20 yards that Michigan State goalkeeper Courtney Clem was able to deflect off the crossbar and clear away.
Ohio State continued to apply pressure late and earned a penalty kick after Sydney Dudley was taken down in the box. Varner then converted the penalty kick with 50 seconds remaining to tie it at 1-1.
However, the lead was short-lived as Wester headed home the game-winner off a cross from Cheslik on the right wing with 27 seconds remaining to give the Spartans the victory.
For the game, Ohio State held a narrow 18-17 lead in shots, including 10-5 on goal.
Ohio State travels to No. 24 Michigan at 2 p.m. Sunday.
