Thursday, March 28, 2024

Kickers beat Wildcats 6-2

October 2, 2000

While the MSU football team struggled to put points on the board versus Northwestern this weekend, the MSU men’s soccer team put up a season-high six goals Sunday in a 6-2 victory over the Wildcats.

Sophomore midfielder Nick DeGraw led the attack with two goals while freshman forward Thomas Trivelloni, freshman forward Craig Hearn, junior midfielder Jeremy Seney and junior midfielder Brian Spitzkeit all contributed with one goal apiece.

MSU head coach Joe Baum said in a released statement that after being shutout in its last three games the team really picked it up offensively.

“Offensively, we have been sputtering and we need to be more consistent,” Baum said.

Northwestern head coach Mike Kunert could not believe that MSU’s offense was so potent and that his defense played so poorly.

“I’m not sure what to say about what happened out there today,” Kunert said. “We haven’t played this badly defensively. You’ve got to give credit to Michigan State. I think they took it to us and they beat us - our goalkeeping has been horrible.”

The win put the brakes on a four-game losing streak that began Sept. 15 in Los Angeles at the Loloya Marymount University Tournament and carried over to Sept. 24 when MSU lost 1-0 to Indiana.

Last week MSU head coach Joe Baum feared his team would take Friday’s game against Valparaiso lightly but thought the team would more focused on the Wildcats since they beat MSU 1-0 in Evanston, Ill. last year.

Baum’s fear became a reality when his squad lost 2-1 to Valpo, only to come back Sunday to produce three times the offense vs. Northwestern - giving MSU an even mark in the Big Ten at 1-1 while Northwestern has dropped eight games and has yet to win a game this season.

“After a dismal performance Friday against Valparaiso, we either had to sink or swim, today we had more jump and more desire to score,” Baum said. “Scoring early helped today, but we just gave a better all-around effort.”

The Spartans head to Oakland University at 4 p.m. Wednesday and will take on Ohio State at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

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