Avery Steinlage proved he is human Sunday afternoon.
After going 1,318 minutes, 26 seconds without allowing a goal — crushing the previous NCAA record of 974 minutes, 20 seconds — the MSU junior goalkeeper finally was beaten by San Diego senior forward Andrew Feld.
The goal that broke Steinlage’s streak came off a volley from 25 yards out that curved into the upper corner of the goal.
“It was a great shot,” Steinlage said. “If I would have made the save, it would have been one of the best saves of my life.”
Sophomore forward Domenic Barone said the team was upset to see Steinlage’s streak end.
“We were all really proud of Avery,” Barone said. “But even a professional keeper wouldn’t have been able to make that save.”
The No. 22 MSU men’s soccer team allowed two goals to San Diego in its first loss of the season, also marking the first time Steinlage gave up multiple goals since the Spartans’ 3-0 loss at Notre Dame on Oct. 8, 2008.
With Steinlage breaking the previous NCAA consecutive shutout record by almost four full games, MSU head coach Damon Rensing said he doesn’t think Steinlage’s record will be broken anytime soon.
“For Avery’s streak to end, it took a great goal,” Rensing said.
“It’s still taking good goals to beat us. We need to keep that going. If a team scores a great goal, hats off to them. But there wasn’t much that we could have done on either goal Sunday.”
Steinlage said losing to San Diego was more upsetting than seeing his streak snapped.
“We had a chance to talk about the streak after the game and it’s nice to have the pressure off,” Steinlage said. “In a way, it was good to get scored on coming into the Big Ten to get it out of the way.”
“Cope”-ing well
The Spartans (4-1-1) only have allowed only three goals in their first six games. A big part of the Spartans’ defensive success has come as a result of freshman Kevin Cope’s quick adjustment to the college game.
With junior central defender Colin Givens missing the last three games because of a hamstring injury, Cope has stepped up and impressed Rensing.
“He’s one of the best freshmen in the country; I don’t think there’s any question there,” Rensing said. “He’s exactly what you look for in a center back.”
The Canton native was twice all-state and only the third defender to win Michigan’s Mr. Soccer award.
Cope also is the only freshman to start every game this season and Steinlage said he’s comfortable with Cope’s defensive skills in front of him.
“He’s very composed and he never gets flustered,” Steinlage said. “He’s great in the air and deceptively fast.”
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