Scott Cendrowski
For The State News
The MSU men's soccer team played a tough Big Ten matchup against Ohio State on Sunday, narrowly winning 2-1 halfway through the second overtime period.
"It was a huge, huge win for us," head coach Joe Baum said.
The sunny afternoon game yielded no scoring in the first half, with both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm.
"We felt like we were playing well defensively but too slow on offensive," Baum said about the first half. "We were too safe."
Twenty minutes into the second half, Ohio State capitalized on a rare defensive lapse for MSU (6-2-2 overall, 1-0-2 Big Ten). Resulting from a collision between MSU's leading scorer John Minagawa-Webster and Ohio State midfielder A.J. Weber, Buckeyes midfielder Adam Schauer scored on an upper right corner shot.
"We both went up for the header," Minagawa said. "Then I looked up and they scored."
MSU defender Kellen Kalso said it was just an unlucky bounce.
"A bigger forward got inside our defender and got a head on it," Kalso said. "They took advantage of our one mistake."
Minagawa was out for the remainder of the second half and the first overtime.
"That hurts losing Minagawa, but others have to step up," Baum said.
Stemming from continuing pressure put on Ohio State by Spartans forward Craig Hearn, MSU scored with 10:30 left in the second half. Congestion in front of Ohio State's net led to forward Thomas Trivelloni tipping Kalso's shot behind the goalie.
"We cleared it out, then Kellen got it back, and I got my leg on it," Trivelloni said. "We caught the goalie flat-footed."
Both teams had opportunities late in the second half to end the tie, most notably MSU's Greg Doster's throw in, which was headed just over the crossbar with 31 seconds to play.
The game then went into the first overtime, resulting in no scoring.
Minagawa made his return to the game in the second overtime with a blood-stained bandage covering his head. He led the game-winning drive up the left side from midfield to inside Ohio State territory. He eventually crossed to an open Trivelloni, who set up forward Ryan McMahen.
"I was open and flicked it in," McMahen said. "It's always good to have Minagawa back. He's my scoring buddy."
"We played tough all game," Kalso said. "In the Big Ten, you get one or two chances a game, and you have to take advantage of them."
