No. 2 Michigan State’s unbeaten stretch took a hit Sunday in West Lafayette, and a single second-half penalty kick ended up being the separator in a 2-1 loss to No. 25 Purdue.
The Spartans, now 10-2-2 overall and 6-2-0 in Big Ten play, did plenty to chase the game after halftime. They spent much of the second half on the front foot, outshooting Purdue 6-1 in that frame and 4-1 on target, but the Boilers’ 47th-minute penalty by Irene Campo held up as the winner.
Michigan State had the first punch, and it came almost immediately. In the second minute, Kaleigh McPherson worked the ball in from the right side of the offensive third, Ella Janz slipped a pass through traffic, and Kayla Briggs finished from the penalty spot for her sixth goal of the season. It was another quick strike from Briggs, who now has six goals, and all six have put the Spartans on the board first.
Purdue answered six minutes later. Rosa Maalouf found Emelia Deppe just inside the top right of the box, and the shot took a slight redirection to the left before slipping past a diving Noelle Henning.
From there, the keepers took over for stretches. Henning was sharp early, punching away a Megan Santa Cruz attempt in the 25th minute and piling up five first-half saves. She finished with a season-high six stops, one more than her previous best, while Purdue’s Grace Miller made four of her six saves after halftime.
Michigan State also had a first-half goal wiped off the board when Kennedy Bell was ruled offside. Purdue later believed it had added insurance in the 73rd minute, but that goal did not stand either.
The decisive sequence came less than two minutes into the second half, when Purdue earned a penalty and Campo buried it into the bottom left corner for her sixth goal of the season. After that, the Boilers turned more physical and defensive, and the numbers reflected it: Purdue finished with 10 second-half fouls and picked up two yellow cards as Michigan State kept pushing.
Henning’s shutout streak ended at 295:31 when Purdue scored at 7:52, a run that had started against North Carolina on Aug. 23.
She has allowed four goals in six games this season, and only two have come in the run of play. The other two were penalty kicks, one at North Carolina and one Sunday at Purdue.
On the scoring plays, Briggs got MSU going in the 2nd minute off assists from Janz and McPherson, Deppe tied it in the 8th, and Campo delivered the winner in the 47th.
Michigan State’s next note comes on the schedule after the loss.
In Other News...
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Michigan State Field Hockey Just Delivered A Complete Response At Home
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Lola Munoz de Verger and Catherine Wolf shared the shutout in goal, giving Michigan State the kind of clean ending coaches usually want after a dominant afternoon. It was the sort of response that does more than just add another win, because it showed the Spartans can dictate the game at home and spread the production across the roster when everything is clicking. [Read more 🡒]