It was a long night for the sea of Spartan fans at MSU Women's Soccer’s match against Eastern Michigan as the Spartans, ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, were held to an inefficient scoreless draw by the Eagles.
“C'mon guys,” shouted MSU head coach Jeff Hosler from the sideline in the dying minutes. “Tick-tock.”
When forward Shelby Vaughn’s shot hit the post with five seconds to go, the Eagles started celebrating as if they had won a championship. MSU holds a 15-1-3 record against Eastern Michigan. It was the first tie between the two sides since 2009.
“This was the worst result of my coaching career,” Hosler said post-match.
Despite their early-season excellence and expectations — including a win against top-ten-ranked University of North Carolina — none of the Spartans’ 22 shots managed to find the back of the net, completely thwarted by the Eagles’ tireless low block.
“I think it’s a reality check in terms of the level that we are,” Hosler said. “We came in highly ranked, we had a lot of success last year, and I think that there might be a bit of expecting that just to happen.”
The majority of the game was played within the Spartans' attacking third. If games were won on possession and shots, MSU would have run away with it. The Spartans were utterly dominant in all but one statistic: goals scored.
“With the quality we have, we have to be able to get results,” Hosler said. “No matter what their set-up is, no matter how well-coached they are, no matter how hard they play, we have to have at least enough quality in one moment to make a difference.”
Even when the Eagles had spells of possession, albeit short, they opted to stay compact and let the Spartans continue to hit the wall of their defense. Eastern Michigan committed fourteen fouls throughout the match, bringing the Spartans to a halt whenever they found momentum. Hosler said their low block was “incredibly well-coached.”
The low block strategy proved successful against MSU, which struggled against a similar defense at home versus Loyola Chicago. The Spartans topped Loyola 1-0, but in that game, too, the offense didn't capitalize in bigger moments.
