While the men’s soccer team (4-1-1 overall, 1-0-0 Big Ten) prepares to play against the Bowling Green State University Falcons (6-1-0 overall) on the road on Wednesday, Sept. 24, they will be faced with the daunting task of stopping the current leading scorer in the nation — Bowling Green’s sophomore forward Pat Flynn, who has 12 goals through seven games thus far.
Flynn is already on the minds of MSU’s coaches as head coach Damon Rensing cited stopping Pat Flynn as a key to success on Wednesday.
“We’re going to have to create a few more chances and shut down Pat Flynn. He’s the leading goal scorer in the country right now,” Rensing said in a phone interview on Sunday.
Bowling Green will be looking to upset the No. 16 -ranked Spartans. The Falcons are aiming for their second win of the season against a Big Ten team after beating Michigan 1-0 on Sept. 16 .
“They’re going to be home, they’re going to be up for the game, they’ve already beaten Michigan,” Rensing said. “They’ll be ready to play for sure and we’re going to have to match their intensity.”
A shutout against Bowling Green wou ld be MSU’s third straight and its sixth overall in seven games, but Rensing knows that the offense must get it going for the streak to continue. The Spartans have only scored six goals through six games, with three all coming from one game against Florida International on Aug. 31.
“We’re always looking for a shutout. Defense wins championships,” Rensing said. “We’re going to have to try to create (offense). I think we’ll have to score more than a goal if we’re going to win at Bowling Green.”
Junior goalkeeper Zach Bennett, the man standing in front of the net in these five shutouts thus far, wants to keep the winning streak going but also noted that the Bowlsing Green offense will not be easy to stop. The team is focusing all of its efforts on the next game, having put last Friday’s win over Maryland in the rear view, according to Bennett.
“They’re looking to upset a Big Ten team — they’re going to be coming ready to play,” Bennett said. “(We have to) start focusing on this Bowling Green team because it’s going to be a hard game and we’ve got to keep the winning streak going.”
Bowling Green’s offense is a recurring theme when discussing preparation for the upcoming game. This is thanks largely to their No. 1-ranked scoring offense according to the NCAA’s official website, scoring at a pace of 3.14 goals per game.
“Looking at what (Bowling Green has) done so far this year, they’ve already beaten a Big Ten team in Michigan and their offense seems to be pretty good,” Bennett said. “To score that many goals against any team — they’re doing something right.”
