Men's Soccer Hosts Milwaukee Tuesday

Oct. 4, 2011

East Lansing, Mich. -

The Particulars
Michigan State hosts Milwaukee in a non-conference midweek tilt. Both teams come into Tuesday's game off of losses, and will look to get back on the winning side of the ledger.

The All-Time Series
MSU owns an 3-6-2 all-time against the Panthers, and has never beaten UW-Milwaukee here at DeMartin Stadium. The series between the teams resumed last fall after 18 years of dormancy; MSU played to a 1-1 draw in the regular-season finale.

State of the Spartans
MSU is 2-6-2 on the season, with all of its losses by a single goal and two of its losses coming in overtime. MSU most recently fell to Ohio State, 2-1, to fall to 0-1-1 in the Big Ten Conference after giving up a late goal and tying Northwestern in the Conference opener (1-1, 2OT).

Its a Factor
Three significant injuries have taken two All-Big Ten players out of the lineup - Domenic Barone was lost for the season before it began, and Kevin Cope was injured in the second game of the year against Connecticut - and Tim Kreutz has not played at all this season as well.

Scouting the Panthers
Milwaukee's second-half rally was not enough to overcome a 3-0 defecit, as the Panthers fell to Cleveland State last Friday, 3-2. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Panthers, who come into Tuesday's non-league matchup with a 5-5-0 record. Gerardo Saavedra is the team's points leader (12) while sharing the goal-scoring lead with Robert Refai, who has a 4-1-9 scoring line. Nick Langford owns three goals and a pair of helpers to round out the team's top scorers. John Shakon has carried the bulk of the load in net, with a 1.54 GAA and .756 save percentage. Josh Rohde has seen action in three games, with a 1.98 GAA and .667 save percentage.

Free Soccer
In 10 games this season, the Spartans have gone to overtime four times, and each of its last three OT games have gone to the second overtime session. MSU is 0-2-2 in games which needed extra time.

Late Goals Lead to Decisions
In five of MSU's 10 games, late goals have been decision-making tallies. The Spartans have lost twice in overtime in golden goal situations, and allowed a marker with under three minutes left in regulation at Northwestern to forge a 1-1 tie in the Big Ten opener. On the reverse side, MSU got a goal by Kyle Rutz in the 79th minute to break a deadlock in Tuesday's 2-1 win over UIC, and Fatai Alashe's goal in the 83rd minute forced a tie at Marquette on Sept. 16. Both Rutz and Alashe are freshmen.

Playing from Behind
MSU has scored the first goal of the game in only two of its matches this season- in the 3-0 shutout at New Hampshire, and in its Big Ten opener at Northwestern. That is also the only game that MSU has played this season in which one of the teams scored more than two goals.

Last Years, First Years Contributing
Each of MSU'a 10 goals this season have been scored by either a senior or a sophomore. Senior Rubin Bega and freshman Adam Montague each have two goals, while seniors Cyrus Saydee, Joe Paljaj, and Garret Back all have one marker. Freshmen Fatai Alashe, Kyle Rutz, and Ryan Keener each have one score as well.

Last Time Out
Michigan State suffered another tough loss on Sunday, falling 2-1 to visiting Ohio State at DeMartin Stadium. All the scoring in the game came in the opening 15 minutes, but both teams generated chances throughout the match. Chris Gomez headed in a rebound off a free kick in the eighth minute to give the Buckeyes an early 1-0 lead. The free kick was awarded just outside the 18 when Chris Hegngi was taken down just outside the box. Omar Vallejo took the kick, which was saved by MSU keeper Jeremy Clark on a great effort. The rebound came out to the left of the keeper, and Gomez headed it into the far-side netting.
The Spartans got an equalizer just three minutes later. Mark Barone launched a long kick from the left side into the box on a restart, and Montague was able to finish it with a soft volley into the left corner of the net. It was his second goal of the season. The Spartans had a great chance to go ahead in the 14th minute, as a beautiful lead pass from Garrett Back to Cyrus Saydee drew the senior just a step offsides. The missed opportunity stung even worse less than 30 seconds later, as Chris Hegngi's shot eluded the outreached grasp of Clark at the other end. Sebastian Rivas had the helper on the junior's sixth goal of the season. That was all the scoring in the match, but those watching were treated to chances in both ends throughout the second half. Clark made seven saves, one off his career best.

Honoring a Legend
On Oct. 8-9, the Spartan men's and women's soccer programs will salute Joe Baum, who retired from Michigan State University on June 30 after parts of six decades as a part of the MSU soccer programs. The former Spartan mentor will be honored at both the women's game against Illinois on Saturday and the men's game against Penn State. It is also alumni weekend for both programs. Baum served as the head coach of the men's program for 32 years, and was the women's program's first head coach (1986-90). He stepped down from his position of men;s head coach after the 2008 season, and served his final two seasons as an assistant to his former player and assistant, Damon Rensing.
Baum, who was a goalkeeper for the men's soccer program in the late 60s and helped the Spartans win a share of the 1968 NCAA Championship, helped the most recent team into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, where it fell to North Carolina in penalty kicks. He returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in the early 70s, and patrolled the Spartan sidelines for 36 seasons. Baum stepped down as the head coach of the program after the 2008 campaign, turning the reins of the program over to his longtime assistant and former player, Rensing. Baum stayed on with the program as an assistant coach to his protégé, and last season, helped lead the Spartans into the NCAA Round of 16, the furthest MSU had advanced in the NCAA Tournament since Baum was the team's goalkeeper for the Spartan 1968 NCAA co-Champions.

Media Darlings
The Big Ten Network will air 10 men's soccer games this fall, and of the nine that have been announced, three will feature Michigan State in Big Ten Conference matchups at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans hosted Ohio State last Sunday, (Oct. 2), and will host Penn State a this Sunday at noon. The Spartans will tangle with archrival Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 30 in a battle for the Big Bear Trophy which will also air live.