The Spartan men’s soccer team added a win to its record over the weekend, downing Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis on Sunday, 2-1.
Perhaps it was the sweltering heat, or maybe the fact that IUPUI (0-4) was shutout against Michigan in an 8-0 loss in its last game, but when MSU (2-1) took the field, it looked anything but prepared to do battle.
“Even in the warm-ups we didn’t seem very spirited,” Spartan head coach Joe Baum said. “We seemed to have heavy legs, we seemed lethargic and not sharp, and didn’t really play with much spirit at all.
“I think the players had this one in cruise control a little bit. I don’t think they really came out here with a passion for a soccer match, and when you don’t have that passion, you play like this.”
Although playing an overall uninspired game, it was MSU that struck first, when a Jordan Gruber shot escaped Jaguar goalie Drew Deffner just 10 minutes into the match.
Gruber, a sophomore midfielder, has tallied nine points this season already, just one shy of his 10 total points in his 2001 campaign.
A scuffle in front of the net gave the Spartans an insurance goal at 37:37, but no MSU player was credited with the strike. In fact, an IUPUI player was responsible for scoring on his own goalie.
The own goal proved vital nine minutes later in the match, when sophomore defender Kellen Kalso lifted one past the goalie - his own goalie, senior Tyler Robinson. This cut the MSU lead to one, with 44 minutes left to play.
Robinson seemed the lone highlight in the Spartan’s lackluster performance, refusing to allow anything past the posts for the remainder of the game.
With 14 minutes left in regulation, a Jaguar shot went sailing toward the open end of MSU’s net, but Robinson made a full lay-out save, tipping the ball out with his hands to preserve the lead.
“Luckily he wasn’t able to get a real good look (at the net), and I had the angle cut down. I was lucky to get my hands on it,” Robinson said.
Despite the win, Baum said he was disappointed with his teams’ performance and hopes they can find the effort before the weekend.
“I thought Tyler Robinson was brilliant in goal, and without a brilliant goalie today we lose, so thank heavens for Tyler,” Baum said. “If you don’t give a great effort, you play poorly, and I think we played poorly today.
“It seems this team rises to the level of their opponent and I’m really grateful we have difficult opponents coming up because that will seem to lift our play up.”
MSU’s next game is 2 p.m. Friday against Hartford, in Amherst, Mass., for the UMass Classic. The team also will play Massachusetts 1 p.m. Sunday before returning to Old College Field for a four-game homestand.
