COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Sarah Koehler (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored four times to pick-up Player of the Game honors as No. 8-ranked/Big Ten Division runner-up Michigan State University shattered a seven-all tie with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter to outmatch host/No. 11/Texas Division Champion Texas A&M University, 10-7, and earn a spot in the 2024 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Ninth Place game.
A three-time (2001, 2002, 2006) National Champion with prior second (2000, 2003), third (2005), fourth (2007), sixth (2004), ninth (2008) and 11th (2019) place marks at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship, the Spartans will return to the water at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 5, in the Ninth Place game versus the winner of a consolation game pitting No. 14/Rocky Mountain Division Champion the University of Colorado and No. 15/Northwest Division Champion the University of Washington.
Texas A&M – which holds previous appearances at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship in 2001 (eighth), 2005 (12th), 2008 (15th), 2010 (13th), 2013 (12th), 2014 (12th), 2015 (15th), 2017 (Ninth), 2018 (13th), 2022 (sixth) and 2023 (fifth) – will wrap-up the 30-game championship in the 30th/11th Place game at 3:30 p.m. Central on Sunday, May 5, against the fallen from the Colorado-Washington contest.
In a back-and-forth game which saw neither team acquire greater than a two-goal lead until Sabrina Boss (Sr., Rockford, Mich.) put the capstone on the Spartans’ victory with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter, the host Aggies jumped on the scoreboard first to pull ahead.
Braelea Loftin (So., Riverside, Calif.) (5:49, man-up) and Emily Nguyen (Jr., The Woodlands, Texas) (4:29) make it 2-0 less than three minutes into the first quarter before Paige Beers (Jr., Rockford, Mich.) (3:03, man-up) and Koehler (1:25, penalty shot) exploited Aggies’ mistakes to tie the game at two-all.
The lead swayed back to Texas A&M and then to equality as Shannon Connolly (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Koehler swished penalty shots at 1:16 and 11 seconds, respectively, to make it a 3-2 and 3-3 game.
Michigan State gained its first lead in the second quarter as Koehler drilled in her third penalty shot of the first half (6:24) before Adrianna Alcala (Fr., Rockford, Mich.) padded the margin to 5-3 with 2:09 left in the first half.
Texas A&M returned the favor in the closing minutes of the second quarter and opening four minutes of the third quarter as Loftin (44 seconds, man-up) put away a shot to move the Aggies within 5-4 entering intermission before Kayla Shaunfield (Sr., Houston, Texas) (4:19, man-up) and Loftin (3:00) commenced the third quarter with consecutive strikes to give A&M a 6-5 lead.
The lead lasted for slightly over two minutes until Sarah Olson (So., San Diego, Calif.) converted a man-up chance with 50 seconds on the clock to knot the squads at six-all heading into the final seven minutes of regulation.
Koehler returned the lead to the Spartans at 7-6 58 seconds into the fourth quarter at the 6:02 mark, but Ava Faux (So., San Antonio, Texas) responded with a goal of her own with 4:43 to play to once again square the squads at seven-all.
However, the final three minutes of the game were the domain of MSU as Nora Wagner (So., Chicago, Ill.) connected on man-up (2:51) and even-strength (2:22) tallies before Boss put away the final blow at 1:53 for the 10-7 final score.
For Texas A&M, Loftin (three), Nguyen, Connolly, Shaunfield and Faux dented the twine. Leah Nelson (Sr., Alvin, Texas) (four saves) and Reagan Smith (So., Oceanside, Calif.) (six saves) combined for 10 saves while splitting time in cage.
Koehler (four) and Wagner (two) posted multi-goal games for Michigan State to accompany solo scores by Beers, Olson, Alcala and Boss. Goalkeeper Grace Rivera (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico) earned the win with eight saves.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 8 Michigan State University |
3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | – | 10 |
| No. 11 Texas A&M University | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 7 |
| Texas A&M Goals: | Braelea Loftin (3); Emily Nguyen; Shannon Connolly; Kayla Shaunfield; Ava Faux | |||||
| Michigan State Goals: | Sarah Koehler (4); Nora Wagner (2); Paige Beers; Sarah Olson; Adrianna Alcala; Sabrina Boss | |||||
| Saves: | Texas A&M – Leah Nelson (4, 14 minutes), Reagan Smith (6, 14 minutes) ; Michigan State – Grace Rivera (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Texas A&M – 18 ; Michigan State – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Texas A&M – 4-for-9 ; Michigan State – 6-for-18 | |||||
| Sprints: | Texas A&M – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; Michigan State – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Jennifer Frain, Philippe Knall | |||||
Michigan State University’s Rachel Huyser (#13) gets her shot blocked
Michigan State University’s Alli Sutton (#15) defends Texas A&M University’s Avery Davis (#6)
Texas A&M University’s Shannon Connolly (#12) attempts to get around Michigan State University’s Adrianna Alcala (#18)
