EAST LANSING - The No. 5 Michigan State women's soccer program came into their two-game homestand this week needing results to stay in contention to capture at least a share of the Big Ten regular season championship for the first time since 2023.
Those chances, however, took a major hit on Oct. 22, when Penn State came into DeMartin and held on to a 2-1 victory, leaving the Spartans just short of a chance to claim a share of the conference title with two regular season games left before the postseason begins with the Big Ten Tournament.
"It's a disappointing result, and I feel like we did a lot of things really well, but I feel like this year, more than any, the mistakes when they're made are magnified more than ever, and we're always punished for them," MSU coach Jeff Hosler said. "That's really hard to deal with emotionally as a team, and they tend to be in the same position group, so maybe it's a personnel a little bit, but we have to coach them better to understand how to make the basic reads and decisions."
MSU controlled most of the possession in the first half, but PSU was able to get on the board first in the 35th minute on a rocket shot from forward Paige Kalal from the right side of the box. The Nittany Lions got their second goal less than two minutes into the second half, when Aubrey Kulpa forced a turnover from MSU's back line and put a shot past MSU goalkeeper Noelle Henning.
The Spartans got back within one when senior Renee Watson connected with forward Kayla Briggs, who got enough room to deliver a shot in the box for her seventh goal of the season.
"Those mistakes just can't happen at this level, and I think the coaches and the players are frustrated," Hosler said. "We're just going to have to keep trying. I think we've got a group that doesn't quit, and we've seen a lot of games where we find late equalizers or winners, and the difference tonight was they had two good chances and had the quality and composure to score."
There were two VAR reviews in the final 10 minutes, one looking at a potential PSU handball in the box, and one on a potential foul by PSU on Briggs in the box, both which would have awarded a penalty shot. Neither, however, were called after review.
MSU outshot PSU 16-8, including 11-3 in the second half, and had six corner kick chances compared to just two for PSU. After going up 2-0, the Nittany Lions packed the zone with all 10 players on the defensive side of midfield for the entirety of the second half.
"It's a familiar tactic, I mean, everybody we've played for the past three, four weeks has set up in a low block for most of the game," Hosler said. "It's difficult, especially when you go down, it's going to be even more compact and tougher to break down, but I think we have the quality and the creativity to create chances."
MSU (11-3-2, 7-3 BIG) will host Maryland ono Oct. 25 with kickoff scheduled for 1 pm.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU women's soccer falls to Penn State, hopes for Big Ten title fade