Michigan State advances to Sweet 16 with OT victory over Texas

DURHAM, N.C. – Michigan State women’s soccer scaled another height on its steady climb to national women’s soccer prominence with its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

And the fifth-seeded Spartans (14-2-5) did it in dramatic, resilient fashion – upsetting No. 4 seed Texas (17-4-2) in overtime 3-2 Friday night at Duke University’s Koskinen Stadium

The sudden-death game-winner with only 2:11 elapsed in overtime was graduate player Mackenzie Anthony’s second goal of the game. She secured the rebound of Maggie Illie’s shot from close range. Texas goalie Mia Justus made the save, but when she wasn’t able to secure the ball and was left sprawled on the turf, Anthony redirected the ball into the net.

“I knew Maggie was going to smash it, so we talked over and over in practice, follow the ball, follow the ball,” Anthony said. “I saw the goalie fumble it, and knew it had to go in the back of the net”

Anthony’s presence on the pitch turned the tables on pre-match conversation focused on Texas recruiting Lansing Sexton High graduate, SEC Freshman of the Year, Amalia Villareal, from the Spartans’ backyard.

Anthony played her second season for the Spartans after she transferred from Baylor, a school in Waco, Texas, that lives in Austin school’s shadow.

“Well, it feels good because when I was at Baylor, we never won against Texas, either ties or losses,” Anthony said. “So, this felt good to get a win against Texas. Yeah, that was probably like, what sixth time I played Texas? So, yeah, it felt really good.”

Last week Michigan State clinched their third straight trip to the second round with a 3-1 win over Western Michigan. And now they have their second trip in a row to the third round.

For perspective, this was only Michigan State’s fifth second-round match since the program was founded in 1986.

WHAT’S NEXT

Michigan State’s veteran players returned this season for another shot at advancing to Sweet Sixteen and claiming the school’s first trip the Elite Eight. The Spartans advanced to the Sweet Sixteen match at 6 p.m. Sunday when they face the winner of the double-header’s nightcap between No. 8 seed Texas Tech (14-4-2) and top-seeded Duke (14-2-1)

HOW IT WENT DOWN

The Spartans had reason to feel at home on the first goal as Anthony scored at the end of the stadium faced by the Skandalaris Field House and Pavilion. Michigan State’s football building, of course, is named the Skandeleris Center for donations from Robert and Julie Skandalaris. Their son, Lee Skandalaris, played soccer at Duke.

With 7:49 elapsed in the first half, Michigan State sophomore Bella Najera lined up from the right side on a free kick. She sent the ball across the middle. Justus appeared well positioned in goal with Anthony facing her in the middle, but Anthony slipped the ball to her left into the net.

Villareal responded for Texas with 32:50 elapsed for 1-1 halftime tie on an assist from Jilly Shimkin. A little more than a minute earlier Villareal had a shot on goal from straight on that went over the net.

Texas, the SEC Tournament champion, came out more aggressively to open the second half, but the Spartans supported goalie Kaitlyn Parks – five saves for the night – with numerous close-range blocks.

The Spartans took a 2-1 lead at 78:59 in the match when Najera added a goal to her earlier assist. The score came following frantic action around the net. Texas blocks prevented a score, but on a rebound Michigan State’s Gabby Mueller controlled the ball. She passed to Adelle Francis and Francis set up Najera for the score.

“Dell had a great ball,” Najera said. “I was kind of wide open in the box. I knew we just had to keep making runs in the box. And I took a touch, saw the goalie to the left, so I just placed it where she wasn’t.”

At that point the score was Michigan State and Lansing Sexton 3, everybody else 0.

TURNING POINT

Although Michigan State led 2-1 with 17:36 to play, Texas delayed the Spartans’ celebration when Holly Ward scored on an assist from Lexi Missimo. The goal was Ward’s fifth of the NCAA Tournament after she scored all four goals in the Longhorns’ 4-0 win over Boston University.

Letting a lead slip away for the second time against a program with Texas’ history might have deflated Michigan State’s lesser experienced teams, but the Spartans responded quickly in overtime.

“We can play so, so well at times, and then just kind of let other teams off the hook a little bit,” Michigan State coach Jeff Hosler said. “And the difference today is that we found a way to keep fighting back. We found a way in overtime to get that that final goal.

“We had five draws in the regular season. A lot of it was kind of the way this one went. But, man, to have the resiliency to step back up and find that game winner in overtime, I think says a lot about the character of this group.”