Two wins and one loss made up a soccer weekend at Old College Field.
On Monday afternoon, the men's soccer team (1-1) lost its second game of the MSU/Radisson Fall Classic to Loyola Marymount 3-1, while defeating Xavier 1-0 Sunday.
LMU midfielder Kevin Novak tipped in a goal in the game's 33rd minute off an assist from defender Matt Kovar to put LMU in control of the game. Novak again paced his team with a score in the 71st minute assisted by midfielder Bobby Burling and midfielder Michael Erush. MSU answered on a penalty kick by junior defender Kellen Kalso in the 88th minute, but a gamble by senior goalie Mike Robinson left an open net for LMU's Joe Stoakley to seal the game in the final minute.
"I thought our effort was great, said men's soccer head coach, Joe Baum. "I thought we really came to play and it's one of those really weird games."
Weird it was.
MSU outshot LMU 14-7, while amounting five corner kicks to LMU's zero. Robinson saved only two balls because of LMU's low scoring chances, while MSU forced seven saves on LMU's Shaun Kalnasy.
"I thought we were knocking, knocking, knocking," Baum said. "If there is one fault, you could say when you get all of those opportunities and you don't equalize, you put yourself in a hole because now what they're doing is packing in and looking to counter and sure enough - bingo - they come down, get a chance and finish it and that was basically the end of the game there."
In the Xavier game Sunday, MSU junior forward Jordan Gruber was the hero with a defensive takeaway that led to a one-on-one goal in the game's 86th minute.
It was fitting that a late-game goal would come MSU's way because of the team's lack of finishing opportunities - something that disappointed Baum.
"We were moving the ball pretty well, but we weren't finishing chances," Baum said. "And when you don't finish chances you let the other team believe they can win the game and sure enough Xavier in the second half believed they could win it and they had a couple good opportunities. So I found that a little frustrating."
On Friday, the women's soccer team (1-1) ignited the weekend with a 1-0 defeat of Furman - a reversal of a 1-0 defeat suffered by MSU in South Carolina a season ago.
MSU junior midfielder Abby Shepherd scored the game-winner in the game's 24th minute. Senior defender Andrea Sied and senior midfielder Tiffany Laskowski each assisted the score.
"It surely wasn't pretty, but it was a much-needed game for us because one of our goals is to be strong at home," said women's soccer head coach Tom Saxton. "And also in order to have a chance at the end of the season, you got to win some out-of-region games.
"Not only was it a key game for us, especially heading on the road to go play a top 20 (West Virginia), I really felt this is one we needed to get this weekend in order to get out to a good confident start. We got away with it and we're certainly happy to get the first one."
MSU outshot Furman 12-11 with 13 corner kicks to Furman's two. MSU senior goalkeeper Stacy Heller had four saves, tying for the career lead with Sara Kloosterman with 16.5 shutouts.
"I think MSU is an excellent defensive team," said Furman women's soccer head coach Brian Lee. "Their organization is tremendous. They're not going to give up an easy goal. By easy goals I mean they're not just going to let you blindly run behind them. The back four does a super job of keeping play in front of you so you've got to be able to combine through their back four and we couldn't."
The women lost to No. 8 West Virginia 2-1 Monday.
