Michigan State University
Indiana
Men's Soccer Falls To No. 10 Indiana, 3-1
9/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 26, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's soccer team was downed by the No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at Old College Field. The game was MSU's and IU's Big Ten opener dropping State to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers (6-2, 1-0) are the favorite to win the Big Ten Conference this season.
After a scoreless first half, Indiana's Jacob Peterson took control of the game. Peterson, netted two goals for the Hoosiers within five minutes, giving IU a 2-0 advantage.
The Spartans never stopped fighting. In the last 10 minutes of the game, MSU had two scoring chances that were thwarted by the Hoosiers. Steve Doster (Jr., Munster, Ill.) received a pass off a Spartan corner kick and took a shot which was blocked on the goal line by an Indiana defenseman. McMahen also had a header from close range, and IU netminder Jay Nolly made a spectacular diving save.
In the 86th minute the Spartans struck back. Ryan McMahen (Jr., Munster, Ind.) took a free kick through a crowd of bodies from both teams and the ball found its way under the crossbar, in the upper left corner of the net. MSU was back within one score, 2-1.
Less than two minutes after McMahen's tally, Peterson scored his 3rd goal of the game, sealing the contest 3-1, for Indiana.
"Our players are very disappointed right now," said head coach Joe Baum. "We really believed we had a chace to win going into the game. We had some great chances in the second half, but we just couldn't finish. Indiana is a very good team, but our players deserve some credit too. We got down 2-0, but we kept battling. We would certainly love the opportunity to play them later in the season in the Big Ten Tournament."
The Spartans return to action next Sunday, Oct. 3, at Old College Field when the Northwestern Wildcats come to town for a Big Ten contest. The game will be at 2:30 p.m. following the women's soccer home game against Penn State.
Game SummaryGoals 1 2 FIU 0 3 3MSU 0 1 3
ShotsIU 6 7 13MSU 1 10 11
Scoring Summary1. 55:06 IND Peterson (O'Rourke)2. 59:17 IND Peterson (Robson)3. 86:42 MSU McMahen4. 88:04 IND Peterson (O'Rourke)
