COLUMBUS, Ohio — Despite a furious second-half comeback, Michigan State men’s soccer fell to No. 13 Ohio State, 2-1, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Spartans fall to 6-7-1 overall this season and 3-3-1 in league contests. Ohio State improves to 9-1-5 overall and 4-1-2 in B1G action.
After falling behind 2-0 early in the second half, senior forward Conner George helped the Spartans trim the lead with his first goal of the season.
“We started off the game in certain ways really well, but we just didn’t create chances out of it. We got into their end in the first 20 minutes, but failed get crosses and create shots for the amount of possession we had in their attacking end,” MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. “I thought Ohio State did some good things. For whatever reason, we just didn’t have the energy tonight. Not sure if the Friday night game took too much out of us, but we just didn’t quite have it.”
Freshman forward Jonathan Stout recorded the first two shots of the game for the Spartans, as they looked to get the offense moving.
After a Michigan State foul in the box in the 32nd minute, the Buckeyes were able to take advantage to take the 1-0 lead. Laurence Wootton converted the PK for his fifth goal of the season.
The one goal would stand for the rest of the half as Ohio State took a 1-0 advantage into the locker room.
The Buckeyes had a fast start to the second half with two quick shots to start the second stanza. In the 47th minute, OSU doubled its lead scoring off a corner kick. Nathan Demian scored off a header following Anthony Samways corner.
George made the most of his minutes, cutting the OSU lead to 2-1 in the 65th minute. A Will Perkins ball found Jack Zugay. The junior midfielder then found George deep in MSU’s offensive third for his first goal of the season. George followed the goal with a pair of dangerous chances before being subbed off.
The Spartans did not go down without a fight with two corner kicks in the final two minutes of the game. Junior forward Greyson Mercer fired off the last shot of the game with nine seconds remaining on the clock.
Senior goalkeeper Owen Finnerty earned a season-high eight saves in the battle to keep the game within reach for the Spartan offense. The Buckeyes doubled up the Spartans in shots, 18-9, as well as corner kicks, 6-3.
“It was two tough goals to give up a penalty in the corner of the penalty box and a corner kick to start the…
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