The shutouts keep piling up for the MSU soccer team as it defeated arch-rival Michigan 2-0 Sunday at Old College Field, extending its shutout streak to three games.
"We really came out focused," head coach Joe Baum said. "It's a real satisfying feeling."
The Spartans (5-3-5 overall 2-1-1 Big Ten) outshot the Wolverines 8-3 and broke through off the foot of senior midfielder Ryan McMahen, who scored his third goal in three games.
McMahen gave his teammates credit for feeding him the ball.
"Doug (DeMartin) played it over to me and I got a solid hit on it to put it in the far post," McMahen said.
The Spartans kept the pressure on and U-M cracked again just before halftime. Off a corner kick, freshman forward Louis Stephens III found sophomore forward Kenzo Webster for his second goal of the season.
"In the first half we played with a lot of jump and energy and created a lot of chances," Baum said. "We finished a couple and that's what it's all about."
In the second half, U-M (6-6-1, 1-2) controlled most of the possession and was putting pressure on the Spartans. Baum said MSU's game plan was to kill time and sit on the two-goal lead.
"We weren't going to push a ton of people forward," Baum said. "The chances they had were all right but they weren't extremely dangerous because we stayed pretty compact."
Baum said the Spartans relied on their defense and it delivered.
"We shifted properly and the goalie played well — we were solid all around," he said.
McMahen was glad the offense found its rhythm after being shutout by Notre Dame last week.
"When we score, we look like a team that can contend for the Big Ten championship," he said.
Junior goalkeeper Jason Tillman had six saves, with four coming from intense pressure by U-M in the second half.
"(Tillman) comes out to play every day," McMahen said. "The last seven or eight games he has played well and come out like he wants to be an All-Big Ten keeper."
Baum said the effort in its past three games have showed the team's ability to regroup following a 1-0 loss to Oakland on Oct. 5.
"Everyone was wondering which way we were going," Baum said of the game against Oakland. "It was great that we were able to regroup and I'm proud of the way our defense has played in the past few games."
MSU's next game is Sunday at home against Penn State.
