Men's Soccer Upsets No. 21 Oakland

Oct. 6, 1999

EAST LANSING, MICH. - The Michigan State men?s soccer team (5-4-1, 0-1 Big Ten) upset the No. 21 Oakland Golden Grizzlies (8-2-1), 3-0, Wednesday afternoon at Old College Field on the MSU campus.

Junior Steve Williford (Livonia, Mich.) scored the first goal for the Spartans at the 27:23 mark, sneaking a shot into the lower left corner of the goal on an assist by sophomore Shervin Motaghi (East Lansing, Mich.).

MSU added to its lead in the second half when sophomore Scott Babinski (Livonia, Mich.) scored his first career goal during the 77th minute. Senior Keith Gordon (Birmingham, Mich) completed MSU?s scoring less than two minutes after Babinski?s goal, heading in a deflected corner kick by junior Mike Trivelloni (Mt. Clemens, Mich.). The goal was Gordon?s fourth on the season, improving his team leading point total to eight.

?This was a total team effort,? said MSU Head Coach Joe Baum. ?We proved today that we can beat a Top 25 team, and we can only build on this win.

?Our goal was to control the tempo, and keep ourselves in position to win. The confidence level for the guys kept rising during the game, and it showed with our aggressive play as the game went on. This game is a tremendous confidence booster, and it?s definitely the biggest win of the year so far for our team.?

Spartan goalie Tim Lieckfelt (Sterling Heights, Mich.) recorded seven saves en route to his second complete shutout of the season. Oakland goalie Mike Skolnik had four saves for the Grizzlies.

Michigan State returns to action on Sunday, October 10th to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. The game will begin at 2:30 p.m. at Old College Field on the MSU campus.

Game Summary

Scoring Summary Michigan State Williford, 27:23 Michigan State Babinski, 76:26 Michigan State Gordon, 78:12

Shot Attempts Oakland 8 Michigan State 11

Goalie Saves Skolnik (Oakland) 4 Lieckfelt (Michigan State) 7

Fouls Oakland 23 Michigan State 12

Corner Kicks Oakland 3 Michigan State 6