Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics:
BOSTON, Mass. – Emma O'Neill exploded with a hat trick in the season opener leading the charge for Michigan State as it took down Boston University 3-1 on Friday afternoon at New Balance Field.
After the first nine minutes of play, O'Neill found her first goal of the young 2023 season. O'Neill and the Spartans (1-0) scored again 50 seconds later as graduate transfer, Tess Keppel, got her name on the stat sheet early for the first time in a Spartan uniform as she found O'Neill, giving the Spartans a 2-0 outshooting BU 4-2 in the first stanza.
Terriers' sophomore Martu Coulo was the lone scorer for Boston University (0-1) as she dribbled through the Spartans defense and got the ball over the goalkeeper's head to bring the Terriers within one at the 25th minute mark.
Four minutes into the second half, O'Neill scored her third goal of the day as senior captain Ellie Wheatley located O'Neill by the net to give her the first MSU hat-trick since 2016. Although Boston had 12 shots to the Spartans 11, MSU had eight shots on goal to the Terriers six.
The home team outshot the Spartans in the second half 7-4 but keepers Cecily Charles and Lyra Gavino prevented BU from the comeback attempt. Charles registered her first career win in goal leading the way with four saves and first-year Gavino recorded her first NCAA save. A total of 21 Spartans recorded minutes in the game, with five players (Gavino, Bianca Pizano, Katelyn Dulin, Keppel, and Brynn Shaffer) making their first appearances wearing Green and White.
"It felt great to get a team win under our belt," said O'Neill. "Ellie and my teammates were great in setting me up for all three goals."
"I'm really proud of the group with today's gutsy performance," said Michigan State head coach Helen Knull. "We started the game a little timid but once we scored our first goal, we settled into our game. It feels great to get the season underway and now we push our focus to Sunday."
Michigan State continue its trip out East as it travels up to New Hampshire to face the Wildcats on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 12 p.m.
