Michigan State University
Notre Dame
No. 19 Spartans Down Notre Dame, 2-0
9/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 19, 2010
South Bend, Ind. - Junior Domenic Barone scored twice and classmate Cyrus Saydee had a pair of assists to propel the No. 19 MSU men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory at Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans improve to 5-1-0 overall with the victory, and finish the weekend of Big Ten/Big East Challenge games with a pair of shutouts.
Senior keeper Avery Steinlage made six saves in the contest, allowing him his second consecutive shutout. He has not allowed a goal in his last four appearances, a total stretch of 336:24 dating back to the Georgetown game. He played approximately 70 minutes in each of MSU's games against Providence and Niagara last weekend.
"I thought we did a nice job today, particularly in the first half, of being organized defensively," said head coach Damon Rensing. "Im happy with our performance against two good Big East teams this weekend. Domenic had two really nice goals today, too."
The Spartans, who defeated Marquette by a 1-0 score on Friday at home, opened the scoring on the road on Sunday in the 40th minute. Saydee passed to freshman back Josh Barens, who served a great ball to Barone for a header and the junior's first tally of the afternoon. MSU's second score came late in the contest, after Saydee crossed for Barone, and he got his second of the afternoon and third of the season at 83:49.
Notre Dame had a22-13 edge in shots, but the corner kicks (7-6 in favor of Notre Dame) were much closer. The Irish also accumulated four yellow cards on the afternoon, compared to just one for the Spartans.
Michigan State prepares for its final non-conference contest before the Big Ten schedule commences, as it will travel to Duquesne for a Wednesday afternoon tilt before hosting Northwestern on Sunday in the Big Ten opener. Sunday's game against the Wildcats will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
