Red shirt senior and goal keeper Bryce Dobbins takes a goal kick on Monday, Sept. 3, 2012, at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans lost to Connecticut with the final score beng 1-0. State News File Photo
With a 3-6-1 overall record, the MSU men’s soccer team might not be exactly where it wanted to be, but it is far from giving up.
Of the six losses this season, five of them were by only one goal, and they frequently are right there — a point head coach Damon Rensing has reiterated throughout the season.
“I think we’re scoring goals, there’s just some critical moments that we’re not dealing with,” Rensing said. “But you look at the 90 minutes being played, and we’re right there. We’re as good, if not better than the teams. We just have to kind of deal with moments in the games and make some better plays.”
He said given the players are without any glaring issues, the coaching staff focuses on staying positive with the team and knowing the wins will come.
MSU lost three games in double overtime this season, and two of those came after being forced to play a man down.
Sophomore midfielder Blake Skamiera was red-carded against Marquette, and freshman midfielder Jay Chapman met a similar fate against Northwestern.
“You tell them, ‘Let’s not panic, we’re doing the right things,’” he said. “That’s where we’ll gain our confidence is just winning a couple of those close games instead of losing them and that’s how you really solve the problem.”
Junior goalkeeper Bryce Dobbins has remained solid with 29 saves and a .690 save percentage this season.
He and Rensing agreed that the defensemen in front of Dobbins have been playing great, but Dobbins said he wants to improve on making the plays when they falter and be able to prevent more goals.
“From the goalkeeper’s perspective, our back line has done a great job of keeping mostly everything out,” he said. “It’s the goalkeeper’s job to come up with the play when it does get through the back line. I’ve been frustrated with my play as far coming up with that play.”
Although Dobbins might want to see improvements in his own game, Rensing said he’s unable to single out a certain player who needs to step up his game.
“It’s one of those things where I can go down the list, four or five games and maybe it’s this guy made a mistake or this guy should have scored a goal, but it’s not a consistent trend with the same player making the same mistake,” Rensing said. “I think the other thing is we don’t give up a lot. We’re in games and our defense is playing well. We just want to continue to maybe score a couple more goals and be dangerous.”
Currently 0-1 in the Big Ten, MSU hopes to turn their conference luck around with a game at 12 p.m. Sunday at Ohio State (4-6-1).
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