Box Score Southwest Minnesota State 4 Wayne State 1
The Wayne State College women's soccer season ended in disappointing and heart-breaking fashion Sunday afternoon as the Wildcats suffered a 4-1 defeat in the season finale at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minnesota.
With the loss, WSC ended in a three-way tie for seventh place in the NSIC standings with 21 points and lost a tie-breaker with Northern State and Upper Iowa on goal differential and head-to-head competition that resulted in just missing out on a spot in the NSIC Tournament for the first time in 10 years. The Wildcats ended the year in ninth place in the Northern Sun Conference with records of 9-6-3 overall and 6-6-3 in the NSIC. The nine wins overall are the most for the Wildcat program since 2006 and the six league wins are the most for WSC since the 2005 campaign.
Wayne State trailed 1-0 at intermission as the Mustangs scored the lone first half goal in the 25
th minute as SMSU held a 10-4 advantage in shots in the first half.
The second half saw SMSU take a 2-0 lead at the 52:34 mark with a goal, then put the contest out of reach with two goals in a span of 2:30 minutes at the 71
st and 73
rd minutes to give the Mustangs a 4-0 advantage.
Wayne State avoided the shutout at the 84:21 mark when sophomore
Brooke Buzzell scored her fifth goal of the season with an assist from freshman
Lauren Fleming making the final score 4-1.
SMSU finished the contest with a 19-12 edge in shots and 12-6 in shots on goal. WSC held the upper hand in corner kicks on the Mustangs 6-1 while SMSU was called for seven fouls to just one on the Wildcats.
Buzzell scored her team leading fifth goal of the season to lead the Wildcats while senior
Kelsey Engstrom had a team-high four shots with three on goal. Sophomore
Christina Stasi added three shots for the 'Cats.
Senior goalkeeper
Kylie Comba allowed four goals and was credited with eight saves in 74 minutes of playing time while freshman
Rachel Grisham played the final 16 minutes.
Wayne State ends the season at 9-6-3 and 6-6-3 in league play and has five seniors on the roster.