The No. 4 Spartans bounced back after losing their first game of the year Sunday afternoon, beating the No. 16 Ohio State Buckeyes, 5-1. The Spartans are now 8-1-1 on the season and 3-0-1 in Big Ten play.
Defenseman Connor Corrigan scored the first goal of the game for MSU and his first of the season, heading it into the back of the net in the first third of the first half.
Forward Ryan Sierakowski scored the second goal for the Spartans minutes after OSU’s Alex Nichols scored the first goal for the Buckeyes and his first of the season late in the first half.
Sierakowski would also score a second goal on the afternoon, about halfway through the second half. Sunday’s goals now give Sierakowski three goals on the season.
Sierakowski said he made sure he didn’t let himself “get discouraged” for not scoring a goal in regulation before Sunday afternoon.
“I know I have the teammates around me, and if I stayed focused and confident, the goals would come,” Sierakowski said.
Forward DeJuan Jones would also get in on the action, scoring the fourth goal and his team leading fifth goal of the season for the Spartans, while Michael Beckett scored his first goal of the season to give MSU the 5-1 victory.
The Spartans led the Buckeyes in almost every category, outshooting the Buckeyes, 14-7, with 10 of them being shots on goal.
Rensing said “it was a good feeling” to have this much success on offense and scoring the most goals in a game this year.
“Every game this year has been a nailbiter to the end, and I got to relax for a little in the last 10 minutes,” Rensing said.
Rensing said he challenged his senior leaders after coming off a 4-1 loss against No. 24 Akron Wednesday night.
“I actually stole Coach Dantonio’s pregame talk about being convicted to the win against Iowa, and we talked about that today,” Rensing said. “Sometimes when that happens when games are close and you win, and sometimes you pop a few goals in and goes on that way."
No. 4 MSU will continue its run of playing against ranked opponents, heading to Kalamazoo, Michigan on Wednesday to play the No. 9 Western Michigan Broncos, making it MSU’s sixth straight game against a ranked opponent. The game is scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. at WMU Soccer Complex.
“We know every game is important with the rankings and everything, so (we’re) just taking it day by day and going at each game like its the biggest game of the year,” Sierakowski said.
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