The 2016 season ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Wayne State women’s soccer season Sunday afternoon as they dropped a 4-1 decision to Southwest Minnesota State in their regular-season finale in Marshall, Minn.
With the loss, Wayne State 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.
Wayne State trailed 1-0 at intermission as the Mustangs scored the lone first half goal in the 25th minute. Southwest extended their lead to 2-0 in the 53rd minute, then put the game out of reach with two goals in a 2 1/2-minute span later in the game. Wayne State avoided the shutout at the 84:21 mark when Brooke Buzzell scored her fifth goal of the season with an assist from Lauren Fleming.
Southwest finished the contest with a 19-12 edge in shots and 12-6 in shots on goal. Wayne State held the upper hand in corner kicks on the Mustangs 6-1 while Southwest 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 Kelsey Engstrom had a team-high four shots with three on goal. Christina Stasi added three shots for the Wildcats. 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. 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.
