EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Carrying an undefeated record in the Big Ten at 9-0-1, Michigan State is controlling their own destiny for women’s soccer. Finishing the regular season on an 11-match unbeaten streak, they host Minnesota, who is the eighth seed, in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Oct. 30. In the 11-match unbeaten streak, Iowa found a way to tie the Spartans, 0-0, on Sept. 22. MSU is coming off of two straight 1-0 wins over Ohio State and Rutgers and now are 14-1-3 on the year and ranked sixth in the nation.
For the week, three players earned awards for their play. Lauren DeBeau, a senior forward, was the Big Ten, TopDrawerSoccer National and College Soccer News National Player of the Week. Senior defender Raegan Cox and senior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal were then named Big Ten Defensive and Goalkeeper of the Week.
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DeBeau is the first person in program history to earn two national awards in one week. She scored both goals in 1-0 wins over No. 17 Ohio State and No 14 Rutgers. The Rutgers win gave MSU the outright Big Ten regular season championship which was the first in program history. She scored in the 44th minute against the Buckeyes and then in the 86th minute vs. Rutgers to seal the championship.
Kozal is the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week for two shutouts over Ohio State and Rutgers. This was her fifth career goalkeeper award and third this season. Cox was then the Big Ten Defender of the Week holding two national ranked teams to no goals. MSU’s defense leads the nation in goals-against-average at 0.400 per game. This was her first Big Ten weekly award.
The quarterfinal game vs. Minnesota will be on the Big Ten Network on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. in DeMartin Stadium.
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