Saturday, August 21
East Lansing, Mich.
2 PM
Michigan State University
1
vs
0
Purdue Fort Wayne (Exhibition)
Men’s Soccer Stops Purdue Fort Wayne in Final Exhibition
8/21/2021 6:42:00 PM | Men's Soccer
East Lansing, Mich. - In its final exhibition before the season debut, Spartan men's soccer defeated Purdue Fort Wayne 1-0 on a hot day at DeMartin Stadium.
"It was a good test for us today. I think Purdue Fort Wayne came in motivated, and they had a pretty deep line, they sat in and it was a little hard to get behind them, and they made it difficult," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said.
A combination of a physical battle and hot conditions made for a low-scoring affair. Through the first 45 minutes, the game was scoreless with Michigan State leading 3-2 in shots.
"I think you've got to give our guys a lot of credit. It was a hot day, so we played a lot of players for the most part and we controlled the majority of the game and our possession wore them down. I think that lends to some our leadership, we didn't panic too much, just kept going and got a deserved penalty and finished the game off," Rensing added.
For the second-straight match, the Spartans found a late second-half goal to earn the victory. In the 86th minute, freshman forward Zack Babiak drew a penalty kick. Redshirt-junior defender Will Perkins converted the PK to give Michigan State the 1-0 lead.
The Spartans end exhibition play 3-0 after a 1-0 road victory against Butler (Aug. 15) and a 9-0 win at home against Schoolcraft (Aug. 11).
In three preseason games, eight different Spartans have found the back of the net.
Michigan State opens the regular season with four-straight home games against Cleveland State (Aug. 26), Akron (Aug. 30), Oakland (Sept. 3) and Bowling Green (Sept. 6). The game against Akron is a doubleheader with the MSU women's team with the women facing Florida Atlantic and 3 p.m. The men's team will kickoff at 7 p.m.
"It was a good test for us today. I think Purdue Fort Wayne came in motivated, and they had a pretty deep line, they sat in and it was a little hard to get behind them, and they made it difficult," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said.
A combination of a physical battle and hot conditions made for a low-scoring affair. Through the first 45 minutes, the game was scoreless with Michigan State leading 3-2 in shots.
"I think you've got to give our guys a lot of credit. It was a hot day, so we played a lot of players for the most part and we controlled the majority of the game and our possession wore them down. I think that lends to some our leadership, we didn't panic too much, just kept going and got a deserved penalty and finished the game off," Rensing added.
For the second-straight match, the Spartans found a late second-half goal to earn the victory. In the 86th minute, freshman forward Zack Babiak drew a penalty kick. Redshirt-junior defender Will Perkins converted the PK to give Michigan State the 1-0 lead.
The Spartans end exhibition play 3-0 after a 1-0 road victory against Butler (Aug. 15) and a 9-0 win at home against Schoolcraft (Aug. 11).
In three preseason games, eight different Spartans have found the back of the net.
Michigan State opens the regular season with four-straight home games against Cleveland State (Aug. 26), Akron (Aug. 30), Oakland (Sept. 3) and Bowling Green (Sept. 6). The game against Akron is a doubleheader with the MSU women's team with the women facing Florida Atlantic and 3 p.m. The men's team will kickoff at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Soccer
D
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