Whenever things are looking up for the MSU men’s soccer team, along comes Indiana.
The No. 22 Spartans couldn’t compare to the No. 9 Hoosiers’ power, offensive prowess, speed or talent in Sunday’s matchup, and lost 6-1.
Despite a strong start to this season and a school-best NCAA performance last season, MSU (5-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) can’t seem to conquer the Hoosiers. The Spartans went 0-3 against Indiana last year, including a season-ending loss in the NCAA Tournament.
But Sunday’s botched game was especially discouraging to head coach Joe Baum.
“We played really poorly,” he said. “It’s the worst game I’ve seen in a while - lots of bonehead plays. We weren’t quick on offense, and we had a few key blunders they made us pay for.
“We really got what we deserved today.”
The Hoosiers (4-1-2, 1-0) were led by two all-Americans, midfielder Ryan Mack and forward Pat Noonan, who each scored twice.
Indiana sucked the life out of the Spartans by scoring in the first minute of the game.
“Our team had no heart today,” senior forward Brett Konley said. “We got down a few goals and no one came back.”
Junior forward Thomas Trivelloni spurred the Spartans’ lone offense. His shot streaked by Hoosier goalie Matt Reiswerg at 69 minutes, 46 seconds to cut Indiana’s lead to four, but the Hoosiers answered with another goal to win 6-1.
“It’s us who have to take the blame for this, not the coaches,” Trivelloni said. “No one showed up ready to play today. Indiana is a great team, they were NCAA champions. And when you play like we did, you get what you deserve.”
Despite Sunday’s loss, the Spartans achieved two career firsts Friday against Valparaiso - Konley kicked his first hat trick and senior forward Derek Ornekian earned his first goal.
Konley’s first score came on a pass from junior forward Craig Hearn and sophomore midfielder Jordan Gruber. MSU’s lead increased to two at the 50:02 mark when Konley again found net, this time on a cross pass from freshman midfielder John Kaczmarek.
And Konley completed the hat trick when his header sailed past Crusader goalie Marc Cilfone less than four minutes later .
“The emotion level was really high,” Konley said. “When the whistle blew we just came out rolling.”
With a little more than 10 minutes left in regulation, Ornekian notched his first collegiate goal off a penalty kick to make the final 4-0.
MSU takes the pitch next when it hosts Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday at Old College Field.
