Bowling Green defeated the MSU men’s soccer team 3-1 Monday in a game that was rescheduled from a Sept. 7 rain-out.

“We deserved to lose,” MSU head coach Joe Baum told his team following the game. He criticized it for a slow start and overall poor performance.

The Falcons’ midfielder Matt Leardini started the scoring, beating MSU junior goalkeeper Tyler Robinson three and a half minutes into the first half.

Jon Hundley added a second goal for Bowling Green with 7:45 left in the first.

As the half wound down, sophomore forward Thomas Trivelloni picked up a yellow card, then answered it with MSU’s lone goal, at the 41:05 mark.

MSU’s defense held off the Falcons’ attack for the first 40 minutes of the second half while the offensive attack rang up 11 shots on Falcon goalkeeper David DeGraff.

But Falcon forward Tim Butler sealed the game with a goal with three minutes left.

MSU’s offensive effort was solid, but Bowling Green’s defense had the upper hand.

“It was (their) defense that won the game,” Baum said.

The 3-1 Spartans will travel to Indiana this weekend for a Friday game at Valparaiso and a Sunday game at Indiana.

It might be without junior forward Nick DeGraw who injured his leg in Monday’s game.

Baum said he will evaluate the injury to determine whether he will play this weekend.