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Oct. 14, 2017
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Penn State men's soccer team was unable to muster a win on a rainy day in East Lansing, Michigan falling to the No. 6 Michigan State Spartans, 1-0, in a Big Ten Conference match Saturday, Oct. 14.
The Nittany Lions managed nine shots on the day but were unable to find the net, while the Spartans took 11 shots with one goal. Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Josh Levine (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) made four saves on the day, while Callum Pritchatt (Birmingham, United Kingdom), Aaron Molloy (Dublin, Ireland) and Ryan Gallagher (Pine Bush, N.Y.) all took two shots for the Blue and White.
The Spartans found the lone goal of the afternoon in the 30th minute of the match when Ryan Sierakowski scored his fifth goal of the season. Sierakowski ended the day with three shots, while Michael Beckett put three shots on goal for MSU. Jimmy Hague recorded his ninth shutout of the season for Michigan State and did not face a shot on goal.
The Penn State offense fired quickly in the first half, with three shots in the first 10 minutes of action against the No. 6 Spartans. However, Michigan State lit up the scoreboard in the first half when Sierakowski flicked in a shot from three yards out off a pass from Brad Centala in the 30th minute of play.
The Nittany Lions were unable to even the score in the remaining 15 minutes of the half, going into the locker room down 1-0.
Penn State continued to find shots in the beginning of the second half, adding three shots to its tally, but all were off target as it continued to trail 1-0 against the Spartans.
A Nittany Lion shot was blocked in the 84th minute that led to a corner kick for the Blue and White. Ryan Holland (Leicestershire, United Kingdom) was served the ball inside the box and took a header that went wide for Penn State.
The corner kicked proved to be the final opportunity of the match for the Blue and White to even the score as it would fall to the No. 6 Spartans, 1-0.
The Nittany Lions will take a week break from game action before returning to the pitch Sunday, Oct. 22 for a 1 p.m. road contest against Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey.