Sophomore Kyle Schickel recorded two shots on goal for Northwestern.Sophomore Kyle Schickel recorded two shots on goal for Northwestern.

Wildcats Drop Big Ten Opener to 15th-Ranked Spartans, 2-0

Sept. 26, 2010

Box Score

Site: East Lansing, Mich. (DeMartin Soccer Complex)
Score: #15 Michigan State 2, Northwestern 0
Records: NU (3-4-0, 0-1-0 Big Ten), Michigan State (7-1-0, 1-0-0 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Wednesday, Sept. 29 -- vs. Notre Dame (Toyota Park), 7 p.m.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Northwestern was unable to solve defending first-team All-Big Ten goalkeeper Avery Steinlage Sunday afternoon as the Wildcats dropped their first match of the conference season 2-0 to 15th-ranked Michigan State at DeMartin Soccer Complex.

"Michigan State is one of the best teams in the country," Northwestern head coach Tim Lenahan said. "You can see why they already beat both Maryland and Notre Dame on the road this season. As good as they are, it came down to the fact that their two goals were created by our mistakes.

"You can't win games at this level against a team like that if you make the serious mistakes that we did. We'll regroup and get ready for Notre Dame on Wednesday."

Michigan State tallied the match's first goal off a set piece. The Spartans earned a corner kick and Spencer Thompson was able to find the back of the net to give the hosts the lead at 23:24.

NU managed just two shots over the opening 45 minutes of play. Both shots were on goal, but Steinlage was up to the task on both occasions.

The Wildcats remained within striking distance, but were never able to tally the equalizer. MSU eventually notched an insurance goal at 74:22 as Jeff Ricondo took a feed from Tim Kreutz and finished it for the score.

Michigan State finished with a 10-7 advantage in shots and a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. Drew Kotler made three saves for the Wildcats, while Jonathan Harris came on to make one stop.

Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday as it takes on Notre Dame in Bridgeview, Ill., at Toyota Park, the home facility of the Chicago Fire of the MLS.

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