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Men's soccer to face Western Michigan in midweek match

October 12, 2010

Coming off its second-straight Big Ten road loss, the No. 21 MSU men’s soccer team will look to gain some confidence in a midweek, nonconference match against Western Michigan.

MSU (8-3-0) hosts Western Michigan (7-3-1) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field after Sunday’s disappointing loss at Penn State (8-3-0).

The Spartans’ game Sunday was a tale of two halves, junior midfielder Cyrus Saydee said.

“We played well in the first,” Saydee said. “And we came out flat in the second, we can’t do that if we plan to make a run in (the) postseason.”

The team will take the 2-1 loss to the Nittany Lions as a learning experience, Saydee said.

“Losing always teaches,” he said. “Now we need to bounce back against Western and the rest of the Big Ten.”

The nonconference game against Western Michigan will allow MSU to gain some confidence back, head coach Damon Rensing said.

“Any loss jumps a little motivation to win,” Rensing said. “I have trust and faith in this team that they’ll bounce back.”

Western Michigan was riding a streak of three straight shutout victories before its loss to Detroit on Oct. 6. Sophomore defender Kevin Cope said the Broncos aren’t used to Big Ten play.

“We need a win bad and unfortunately Western Michigan plays us next,” Cope said. “They don’t play teams of our caliber.”

Rensing said Western Michigan is a solid team and provides an interesting matchup.

“They’re very well-coached,” Rensing said. “It’s a tough midweek game and they’ll be ready to play us, we’ll have to match their intensity.”

After Wednesday’s game, the Spartans will turn around and play Wisconsin on Sunday, a must-win if MSU still has Big Ten Championship aspirations.

The Big Ten, with only six teams, provides very little room for error, Cope said.

“The conference has been beating up on each other,” he said. “If we can win out, I like our chances.”

Rensing said each Big Ten team has at least one loss after two or three conference games, and a one-loss, one-tie record could win the Big Ten — or several teams could share the title with two losses.

MSU has perhaps the hardest road schedule of any team, Rensing said — playing at Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, all teams on the cusp of the top 25.

“Nobody is perfect,” Rensing said. “Anyone could win it.”

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