The Spartans racked up 10 shots and earned four corner kicks in the first half while only allowing St. Francis three shots on net. But MSU head coach Joe Baum was nervous with the slim lead going into the second half.

“I guarantee if (St. Francis) would have come out and scored a goal in the first ten minutes of the second half, and it would have been 1-1, we probably would still be playing in overtime,” he said. “I knew the next goal was critical to the match. I thought if we could go up 2-0 they would lose some of their spirit but if they equalized, lookout.”

The first goal of the season for the Spartans came at the 19 minute mark of the first half after freshman forward Domenic Barone drew a foul about five yards outside the 18-yard box near the end line.

Senior Ben Pirmann lightly chipped the ball into the box and was able to find the foot of senior Zac Scaffidi. Scaffidi pushed the ball to the right side of the net past the St. Francis goalkeeper to give the Spartans the 1-0 lead.

“At the last second I saw the ball and just kind of swung at it,” Scaffidi said. “Getting that first goal gave us some relief and we just kind of poured it on from there.”

DeMartin had five quality scoring opportunities, including a shot that rattled off the crossbar, before he found the back of the net for the first time in the 64th minute.

“I get frustrated but I’ve learned from coach Baum that you have to keep your head up,” DeMartin said. “As a striker you have to have that arrogance that the next one is going to go in and you are going to score.”

DeMartin’s first goal came from a pass down the left wing from sophomore Spencer Thompson. DeMartin found space and charged towards the goalkeeper before sliding a shot into the right corner of the net.

Shortly thereafter, DeMartin received a through ball from sophomore Jeff Ricondo after freshman Cyrus Saydee came up with the ball near midfield. DeMartin powerfully struck the ball with his left foot to give the Spartans the 3-0 lead.

The Green and White found their way on the score sheet for the last time when Thompson fired a shot that beat the St. Francis goalkeeper. Freshman Rubin Bega set up Thompson by leading him with a pass to open space on the left wing.

Baum was pleased with the result of the game and he hopes his team is able to carry the momentum into Sunday afternoon’s game against Vermont, which is the final match of the MSU/Radisson Fall Classic.

“There is always first game anxiety and to get that out of the way is a great feeling,” Baum said. “This is just the start of a long, hard season but I think we have some of those first game jitters out of the way.”