Lansing Sun

EAST LANSING, Mich. - After a scoreless first half, four second-half goals led to a 2-2 draw for Michigan State women's soccer against No. 15 Xavier Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium.

Playing their third top-15 opponent of the season, the Spartans move to 3-0-2 with the result, while Xavier moves to 5-0-1.

Sophomore midfielder Bella Najera and junior defender Maggie Illig notched goals for the Spartans. Najera's goal was her second of the season, while Illig earned her first of the season and third of her career. Graduate midfielder Justina Gaynor assisted on both Spartan goals and graduate forward Mackenzie Anthony tallied an assist on Illig's goal for her fifth point of the season.

Xavier held a narrow 12-11 edge in the shot count, including a 9-5 shots-on-goal advantage. MSU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks made a season-high eight saves in a strong 90-minute showing in goal to earn the tying decision.

The Spartans came out strong with a dominant display on the attacking end through the first 15 minutes. Graduate forward Meg Hughes forced a Xavier save in the 14th minute before a trio of Spartan shots went high. The Musketeers failed to get a shot off in the first 18 minutes thanks to a strong defensive performance by the Spartans but began to heat up in the following 10 minutes, forcing three saves by Parks.

Despite controlling most of the possession throughout the remainder of the half, neither team was able to generate any threatening chances, leaving the game scoreless as they headed into halftime.

The Musketeers came out hot after halftime, forcing another save by Parks in the opening minutes. After five minutes of Xavier controlling play, Anthony forced a save of her own in the 52nd minute. Xavier then retook control offensively but Parks continued to stand tall between the pipes, corralling several attempts from Xavier.

The intensity ramped up in the 64th minute after an MSU own goal gave Xavier a 1-0 lead. In response, Najera equalized for MSU in the 76th minute following a corner kick by Gaynor that rebounded off both posts before Najera sent it over Xavier’s goalkeeper.

MSU took its first lead at 2-1 just two minutes later when another corner from Gaynor was flicked by Anthony towards Illig who tapped it past multiple defenders into Xavier’s net.

Both teams registered shots on frame over ten subsequent minutes as MSU sought to maintain their lead. However, with less than one minute remaining, video review confirmed an MSU handball inside their box resulting in Samantha Wiehe converting an awarded penalty kick for Xavier bringing final result back level at two apiece despite last-second efforts from MSU generating no further opportunities on target

"Really impressed with our response during those final fifteen," said head coach Jeff Hosler "We dug ourselves into quite hole initially starting second half without intensity required; needed someone step up settle things down which didn’t happen until conceding woke us bit better ball much more intense set pieces finally worked twice today giving huge lift yet discipline lacked closing stages."

Next up: MSU hosts Queens Thursday September fifth seven pm DeMartin Stadium Youth Soccer Night streaming live B1G+