Finding positives in loss

Sometimes a loss isn’t the worst thing to happen to a team.

The MSU men’s soccer team suffered its first defeat to San Diego last Sunday and, while the Spartans were disappointed with the loss, they said they were able to take some positives away from the game.

In the loss, junior goalkeeper Avery Steinlage’s NCAA-record consecutive shutout minutes streak came to an end at 1,318 minutes, 26 seconds.

While this wasn’t necessarily a good thing, Steinlage said he was relieved for the streak to end and to get some work back in the goal.

“It had been smooth sailing until Sunday,” Steinlage said. “We are excited to see how our team responds to the loss. We were missing two starters — Colin (Givens) and Nosa (Iyoha). Colin is a captain and Nosa is one of our better midfielders. Looking ahead I think when we get healthy, we will gain from the trip out to San Diego.”

Steinlage also said the loss helped the Spartans refocus on Sunday’s conference opener against No. 26 Ohio State.

MSU head coach Damon Rensing agreed and added that earning a win against Ohio State is huge — especially with the Spartans playing No. 5 Northwestern and No. 13 Indiana on the road this season.

“The Big Ten is very competitive and everyone is very athletic,” Rensing said. “Everyone knows each other. You aren’t going to get 10 or 12 scoring opportunities. Hopefully you get three to seven chances a game, and if you can make it on a couple of those, you are in good shape. Defense is a priority in the Big Ten and there’s a lot of good players in the conference.”

Sunday’s match might be the easiest conference game the Spartans have all season, and after talking to several of the players today, they want to get the conference season started on the right foot and take care of business.

If you don’t have plans on Sunday, head over to DeMartin Stadium to see what will surely be a great day of soccer, with the women’s team kicking off against Penn State at noon and the men following at 2:30 p.m.

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