Men's soccer knocks off Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The final score to the men's soccer match read IU 1, Michigan State 0, but the Hoosiers' didn't have much to celebrate Sunday at Old College Field.\nIU had several scoring opportunities during the match, but players rushed point-blank shots or just lost the ball out-of-bounds near the Spartan goal. The Hoosiers (6-3) haven't scored a goal in a first half in nine consecutive games.\nWith about seven minutes left in the game, junior forward Ryan Mack juggled the ball around a Michigan State defender before putting the ball in the back of the net for the only tally of the game.\n"Our coaches joked before the game and even told us it was alright to score in the first half," said Mack, who took four shots. "We're not going to be punished if we don't. We still haven't. I think we're generating enough offense in the first half. We've just been hitting the post every game. Hopefully, (the missed shots) are going to go away from now on."\nJunior sweeper Josh Rife and senior goalkeeper T.J. Hannig had to make several recoveries deep in IU's defensive third, as a result of the Spartans outnumbering the Hoosiers on counterattacks. With 39 minutes left in the first half, Craig Hearn of Michigan State was left alone to charge near the IU goal, but was stripped of the ball by Rife.\n"There were some breakdowns on defense, but I think it was team defense as a whole," Rife said. "That was just where we were breaking down (Sunday). They were able to serve balls from the back and get initial pressure on the ball. They were able to send balls deep and behind us, and that where we got in a lot of trouble."\nThe Spartans (4-3) began the Big Ten season-opener game with better scoring chances than the Hoosiers while IU had trouble moving the ball deep in the offensive third. Both teams set up good scoring chances, but neither could convert as IU outshot Michigan State 6-4 in the first half.\nThe Hoosiers outshot the Spartans 13-11 for the game. \n "I felt that with the situations we created, we certainly should have had more than one goal," coach Jerry Yeagley said. "T.J. and Josh Rife saved our bacon on the other side of the field. It was not vintage IU soccer.\n"And yet, on a bad day, if you can find a way to win, that's a sign of a good team. I'll just leave it at that"