“I’m not disappointed at all in the way we played today,” head coach Damon Rensing said.
“In fact, I’m very proud of how we played. You’re always disappointed in the result. You don’t want to lose 1-0, but we played great today. We created more chances and defended well, and it’s unfortunate to walk away with a 1-0 loss.”

The Spartans kept up with the No. 1 team in the country, creating opportunities and controlling plays in the Husky zone. But MSU just couldn’t keep up in the one category that really mattered: goals.

And they seem to be struggling in that category while in East Lansing; MSU has yet to score a goal at home during the regular season. The team tied Valparaiso 0-0 in the season opener at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field, then fell to New Hampshire 1-0 two days later.

“In soccer, sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way,” senior forward Domenic Barone said. “It’s a game of inches. The ref could miss a call, (or) we could miss a breakaway. Little things like that could change the game, and sometimes you get unlucky, but we have to start creating our own luck, too.”

If soccer is a game of luck, the Huskies had just a bit more going for them. As Rensing put it, MSU controlled the game for 89 1/2 minutes, and in the 30 seconds Connecticut was on fire, they scored.

Husky defender Max Wasserman crossed the ball from the right side to forward Allando Matheson, who volleyed the ball past MSU junior keeper Bryce Dobbins to the back post.

“We held them defensively to very little,” Dobbins said. “Whatever the defense gave up was easily recoverable, (except) on that goal. A lot of teams just have one or more really good players ­— they had a few more. It was a shade of brilliance from No. 8 (Matheson). From my eyes, it was a really good goal.”

Following Connecticut’s goal, MSU certainly wasn’t lacking in scoring opportunities. The Husky keeper denied Barone on a near breakaway and deflected a shot from sophomore midfielder Fatai Alashe minutes later. MSU had two free kicks with under 10 minutes left to play, but neither came to fruition.

Despite the score on the board, Rensing is proud of how his team played and believes the game showed what they can do.

“We can play with anybody in the country when we play well and we defend and don’t give up a ton of chances,” Rensing said. “We created enough chances to win the game; and undoubtedly, it just didn’t go our
way today.”