EAST LANSING, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's soccer team suffered just its second defeat in its last 10 outings, falling to No. 16 ranked Michigan State on the road Wednesday. The Spartans scored two goals in each half for a 4-0 final.
“Michigan State was the better team and very deserving of the result,” said WMU head coach
Chad Wiseman. “We knew what they were going to do and we simply could not stop them. They are very good, well-coached and disciplined.”
The loss dropped No. 9 regionally ranked Western Michigan to 6-4-3 on the year, while Michigan State's record improved to 8-2-2 overall. It was the ninth shutout in 12 games for the Spartans, whose stingy defense has allowed just five goals in 2014.
The Bronco offense did its best to rattle MSU, firing 16 shots, including eight on goal. Both totals - shots and shots on goal - were the most allowed by Michigan State this season. Former Spartan and current WMU junior
Sean Conerty took a team-high five shots against his former squad. Spartan netminder Zach Bennett, who ranks in the tops of Michigan State's goalkeeping records, was forced to make a season-high seven saves. MSU's backup keeper made one stop in the final 10 minutes.
“We created more scoring chances than we thought we would heading into the game, and really kept the pressure on,” Wiseman said. “Bottom line is we have to finish some of those if we want a result against a quality side like MSU.”
Junior midfielder Jason Stacy totaled five points for Michigan State, scoring a goal in the 22nd minute and assisting three others. MSU's Jay Chapman put away the first goal of the game on a header in the fourth minute. Zach Carroll (49th minute) and Fatai Alashe (56th) added second half strikes.
“We will learn from today and move on,” Wiseman stated. “Saturday is a big time contest for us against a solid Northern Illinois team that will be coming to Kalamazoo looking for three points in the conference standings.”
Western Michigan returns home to host Northern Illinois in a 1 p.m. Mid-American Conference matchup Saturday at the WMU Soccer Complex. Both WMU and NIU recorded ties in their MAC openers last weekend.
