After a comfortable 4-1 victory in their NCAA Tournament opener, the Women’s Soccer Team will once again take the field at DeMartin Stadium on Thursday evening. This time, the challenger is the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The game will air at 6 PM ET on ESPN+.
In their first game, MSU used a second half barrage to turn a 1-0 halftime lead into a 4-0 lead before surrendering a late goal to cost Noelle Henning a shutout in her first postseason game at MSU. Offensively, MSU had goals from Kennedy Bell, Kayla Briggs, Emerson Sargeant, and Adelle Francis. For Sargeant, it was her 3rd goal in 3 games after she had both Spartan tallies in the B1G semifinal win over UCLA. Bell, Sargeant, and Briggs are the leading goal scorers on the season with 11, 8, and 7 goals, respectively.
Michigan State earned a 2-seed in this year’s tournament, which means they will play at home through the round of 16 if they win today. Thursday’s opponent is 7-seed Wake Forest who is coming off a 2-1 win over South Carolina in their first-round game. Unsurprisingly, the Demon Deacons do not have as potent of an offense as the Spartans. Their highest goal scorer, Kylie Maxwell, only has six goals all year, which would be good for fourth if she played for MSU.
Where MSU’s concern should lie is with the Wake goaltender. Sophomore Valentina Amaral has both a better save % (.783 vs .745) and goals-against-average (1.06 vs. 1.18) than her MSU counterpart, Henning. Where Amaral, and WF in general, could be worried is that they should see a higher shot volume against MSU than they usually face. For the season, MSU is averaging 15.3 shots while Wake’s opponents are only getting 12.1 off.
As of now, the forecast at kickoff is 44 degrees, which is probably a tad colder than what those Carolinians are used to at this time of year. Perhaps the weather will be another factor that tips this game in MSU’s favor. But even without it, MSU should prove to be the better team and progress on to the next round. That game would be on Sunday, November 23, and would be against the winner of Colorado and Xavier, which is also being played at DeMartin today.
If you have ESPN+ and are home from work by 6, show your support for the team as they seek a third consecutive berth in the round of 16.
