The fans at Old College Field expecting to see a classic battle between MSU and Michigan were not disappointed.
After several shifts of momentum, the Spartans (8-2-1, 3-1 Big Ten) left the field with a 4-2 victory over rival U-M (7-4-1, 1-3 Big Ten).
The Spartans grabbed control of the game early with two goals off penalty kicks - one by junior midfielder Nick DeGraw and one by senior midfielder Anders Kelto.
With an early lead, the Spartans said they felt a great deal of pressure lifted off them.
“(Scoring first) is huge against a team like Michigan,” DeGraw said.
“It’s important for the team to get the first goal right away. If we get the first goal, we’re deadly.”
But the Spartans were still not invincible.
U-M returned the favor with a goal by midfielder Robert Wurth after sophomore goalkeeper Mike Robinson came out of the net to challenge a shot.
And when sophomore midfielder Jeffrey Krass added to MSU’s total with a shot near the end of the first half, U-M still kept the pressure on.
Michigan forward Jody Keeling gave the Wolverines a second goal after a shot bounced off Robinson’s hands.
It was clear with that goal that U-M had gained some momentum in the game, head coach Joe Baum said.
“I have to give them credit, they came back in it,” he said. “U-M put a lot of pressure on us in what we call the third quarter. They made it 3-2, and then it’s crunch time.”
It was a pressure that would prove to jump start the Spartan offense again, Baum said.
“Once they scored their second goal, I thought we played our best soccer,” he said.
“We settled in, we started to build again, we got our passing game going again.”
The renewed intensity led to a goal with 10 minutes left and reversed the momentum and to send the knockout punch to the Wolverines.
U-M goalkeeper Joe Zawacki came out of the net to challenge a shot, but ended up with a red card instead of a save.
Within a minute of the foul, sophomore forward Craig Hearn sent a pass to sophomore forward Thomas Trivelloni for the fourth Spartan goal.
“It gave us the total momentum,” Trivelloni said.
“We knew the game was over from there. It was just too deep into the game.”
The 4-2 lead stood for the rest of the game, giving the team a win despite being outshot by U-M, 17-10.
The Spartans next take on Penn State at 2:30 p.m. Sunday on Old College Field.
