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Men's soccer comes away with clutch 1-0 victory over Maryland to open Big Ten season

September 20, 2014

In their first Big Ten game of the season, the men's soccer team beat the Maryland Terrapins 1-0. The win moves MSU to 4-1-1 on the season and gives them a 1-0 record in conference play.

The Spartans, under the lights at Ludwig Field in front of thousands of Maryland fans, got out to an early lead with a goal by junior midfielder Jason Stacy, with an assist coming off a head pass by senior forward Tim Kreutz around the 9 minutes into the first half.

After missing the last game due to an apparent injury, Kreutz was able to return in a big way with the assist on the only goal in the game.

MSU after scoring early played comfortably with the lead, controlling possession for most of the first half, and holding their one goal lead.

Maryland had their opportunities late in the first half though hitting the post on a header coming from a corner kick with around five minutes left.

"(We) defended well, got to some lose balls, and you always get to weather a little bit of storms here at the University of Maryland," head coach Damon Rensing said after the first half in an interview on Big Ten Network's broadcast of the game.

After the dangerous opportunities late for Maryland, Rensing acknowledged Maryland's run but also felt that MSU missed some chances.

"It was a little bit of a flurry, but that's going to happen and I thought we had some dangerous chances too where we could have been up two," Rensing said. "We'll take a one (to) nothing lead at halftime, no problem." 

Maryland controlled the ball for most of the second half but could never quite break through enough to score despite a fair amount of opportunities. 

Maryland pressured the Spartans for most of the second half, but MSU's defense never broke, giving the team its fifth shutout in six games. 

The team has only given up one goal through six games this season, with that goal coming in the team's only loss this season against Valparaiso on Sept. 11.

The Spartans will have four days to prepare for their next game against Bowling Green State on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. The BGSU Falcons are 6-1 on the season. The Spartans will hope to keep the defense playing at a high level after earning their second consecutive shutout.

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