Sophomore defender Jake Fullerton goes to steal the ball from Illinois-Chicago forward Kevin Stoll during Wednesday’s game at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field. The Spartans defeated the Flames 3-1.
The men’s soccer team didn’t have to reschedule its game against No.14 Illinois-Chicago after it was canceled on Sept. 14 due to the heavy rainstorm that caused DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field to resemble a lake more than a soccer field.
But MSU head coach Joe Baum wanted to reschedule the game against the No. 14 ranked team in the country to help his team gain experience against yet another quality opponent.
Things couldn’t have gone better for Baum and his Spartans squad, as they beat UIC 3-1 — the team’s second straight win to a ranked opponent.
“This was a quality team we wanted a result with,” Baum said. “Maybe it wasn’t the best timing between Indiana and Michigan. But it was either today or we don’t play and I’m glad we played it.”
The Spartans (7-5-0) established their usual Big Ten, rough-em up style of play early on — something senior midfielder Zac Scaffidi didn’t think the Flames were ready for.
“They are a different style of play,” Scaffidi said. “Their team is all finesse and we are going to take teams that are technical and hit them. I think we got in their heads.”
The field wasn’t nearly as soggy as it was Sept. 14, but a light rain throughout the game’s duration kept the field wet and made the ball skid around more than usual. It took the first couple minutes for both teams to become accustomed to the conditions on the field, but roughly seven minutes into the game, MSU found the momentum.
Scaffidi brought the ball down the left side of the field with speed and tried to play a through pass to senior forward Doug DeMartin. The ball was perfectly played by Scaffidi, but the UIC defender shielded DeMartin and he was unable to use his speed to chase it down.
Roughly three minutes later MSU senior defender David Hertel found the back of the net for his first goal of the season. Hertel gained possession of the ball and charged up the left side of the field — beating three defenders by using his lightning fast quickness. He walked right in on the UIC goaltender and played a perfect outside of the foot chip over the goaltender’s head to give the Spartans the lead.
“I got the ball out wide and my teammates told me to take people on,” Hertel said. “I just went at them and good things happened.”
Baum was surprised by Hertel’s ability to get to the goal and create his own scoring chance.
“It amazed me,” Baum said. “I’ve seen him make that run a million times and I’ve never seen him shoot the ball. He serves it up every time. I thought he was going to serve the ball again — I think we all did.”
The Flames (8-2-4) almost responded a little more than a minute later when the referee called a foul on MSU in the 18-yard box resulting in a UIC penalty kick. Sophomore goalkeeper Avery Steinlage guessed right on the penalty kick but it didn’t matter. The ball drilled the right post and flew outside the box before hitting the ground.
The ball was bouncing around in the Spartans’ box with 25 minutes left when Steinlage was forced to make a sprawling save. He stretched all the way out to his left and got a hand on the ball but was unable to hold onto the rebound. The ball went right back to a UIC striker but Hertel threw his body in front of the ball and it hit him in the stomach and stayed out of the net.
The Flames earned yet another penalty kick with 15:57 left in the first half. UIC head coach John Trask switched up his kickers after forward Matt Spiess missed the previous penalty kick. Fellow midfielder Charlie Trout made no mistake on this penalty kick, as he played it low to the right past Steinlage to tie the score up at 1-1.
The score stayed notched up at the end of the first half, with UIC recording six shots and MSU tallying three.
Early in the second half, senior forward Louis Stephens III played a pass to his right to a streaking Scaffidi who fired a shot from just outside the box that screamed over the net.
Stephens followed that effort up only two minutes later by bringing the ball in deep near the corner flag and drawing a foul. Senior midfielder Ben Pirmann played the ball near the goal but it was cleared by the UIC defense.
The Spartans took the 2-1 lead with 24:33 left in the second half. DeMartin brought the ball down the left side of the field and had a wide open shot. But instead he opted to pass the ball across the face of the goal to Scaffidi who ripped a shot that hit the right post. DeMartin was rewarded for his unselfish play when the ball bounced right back to him off the post. He fired the ball into the back of the net for his 12th goal of his season.
“I thought I had it,” Scaffidi said. “I started celebrating. But it’s all just a team combination.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
After getting one goal, DeMartin wanted to give the Spartans a bigger lead and he single-handedly scored the third goal for the Spartans. With 15 minutes left in the game, DeMartin stole the ball from a Flames defender right in front of the UIC bench. He then dribbled down the left side of the field and into the box before being taken down by a UIC defender. Instead of raising his hands and questioning the no-call, DeMartin popped back up, recovered the ball, and drilled a shot into the back of the net.
“(Doug) personifies our team spirit,” Baum said. “If you work hard good things are going to happen. He stays positive and keeps working. He never quits on the play and he’s just a blue collar player.”
Baum thinks his squad’s back-to-back wins against ranked opponents are brining his team one step closer to a bid into the NCAA tournament.
“If we get a win at Michigan, we might only be 10-7-0 and we might still get an NCAA bid,” Baum said. “This was huge (and it’s going to) help our RPI. But I really think we are on track now to get an NCAA bid.”
The Spartans will take on the Wolverines at 2 p.m. Saturday at Michigan.
