Aug. 9, 2012

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- - Head coach Tom Saxton will get his first look at the 2012 Michigan State women's soccer team on Saturday, Aug. 11, as he takes his squad on the road for an exhibition game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Spartans, who brought in 10 new players after graduating the same number of athletes from the 2011 squad, will look to build off a strong spring season and integrate the talented newcomers into the corps of returning veterans.

"We look forward to our trip to Milwaukee this weekend and the opportunity to play UWM," said Saxton. "This will be a great initial test against one of the top teams in the region. Everyone has been working hard in training and we will try to reward as many players as we can with the opportunity to play in this important exhibition match."

Milwaukee was selected as the pre-season favorite in the Horizon League for the 13th straight season. Milwaukee has won the last 12 league regular season titles and the last four league tournament titles. They return six starters from last season's 19-3 team which qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans welcome 10 new faces on the roster in 2012, and the exhibition tilt will help the coaching staff assess how those players will blend in with the talented veterans. MSU is coming off a 14-6-1 regular season and a spot in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, where it lost an overtime heartbreaker to Illinois.

Michigan State officially begins the 2012 campaign on Friday, Aug. 17 at Bowling Green, then will debut at DeMartin Stadium two days later against Fordham (12 noon).