Despite having success early, MSU was held scoreless for the rest of the game, and head coach Joe Baum said his team’s play was sluggish in the second half.

Baum was particularly upset about the Oakland’s lone goal, a breakaway up the middle in which senior John Folino was beaten goalside.

“I don’t care if your legs are tired, your brain’s not tired,” Baum said. “You can stay goalside.”

The goal was the first MSU has given up in three games now, stopping its shutout streak at two games. Baum said he didn’t care about the streak, however.

“I just wanted to win the game,” he said. “We’re fortunate we got a couple early, but hey, just win the game — that’s all I care about.”

McKenzie said the team had been feeling a bit overworked recently, and its lack of energy was reflective on the late-game play.

“I mean, we played a bunch games in the last few days, and that’s going to take a toll on anyone,” he said. “And Oakland’s always a tough team to play against, they love getting up for these big games like us and Michigan.”

McKenzie’s second goal of the season came off a corner kick by Kevin Reiman, which he said was served perfectly.

The corner kick goal was the Spartans’ first in a few games, and Baum said its been a weapon that they haven’t been using in recent games.

“Corner kicks are funny,” he said. “Sometimes you get them in bunches, and we haven’t had any in awhile. Maybe now we’ll get some more.”

The team travels to Valparaiso for a non-conference game this Sunday, and Baum said he plans to give the Spartans an “important” day off.

He will also cut back the length of his practices.

“At this time of the year I think you can overtrain, and so we’re going to cut the practice minutes down,” he said. “As we wind down (the season) we’re going to have some short, sharp practices.”