Spartans Blank Broncos, Remain Undefeated At Home

Despite the wet conditions, the No. 21 Michigan State Spartans men's soccer team gave Western Michigan all it could handle and more in Wednesday's 5-0 victory over the Broncos.

Led by a man-of-the-match performance from junior midfielder Brent Rosendall (pictured right), who tallied two goals and an assist, MSU moves to 9-3-0 on the season and stays undefeated at the friendly home confines of DeMartin Stadium.

Junior midfielder Cyrus Saydee notched the Spartans' first goal in the fifth minute off of a Rosendall cross. The goal, Saydee's third of the season, would be the only tally on the board for the next 59 minutes. In the 17th minute, Western Michigan's Yilson Asani was issued a red card, leaving the Broncos (7-4-1) at a serious disadvantage against their powerful Big Ten opponent.

In the 64th minute, junior midfielder Mark Barone lined up to take a corner kick and drilled a curling ball into the penalty area before Rosendall connected on a header to push the lead to 2-0. The Green & White would never look back after that.

Senior midfielder Jeff Ricondo collected a ball outside of the box and slotted home beautifully five minutes later, while Rosendall would add a second in the 80th minute. Freshman forward Tim Kreutz would score his first goal of the season on a breakaway two minutes later to end the scoring at 5-0.

Senior Avery Steinlage and Junior Jeremy Clark combined for the shutout, with Steinlage racking up six saves in the process.

The Spartans remain home this weekend, when they return to Big Ten play against Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.

Did you know?: The five goals were the most scored by the Spartans since they posted a 6-0 shutout against the Broncos on Sept. 24, 2006.

(Photo courtesy of MSUSpartans.com)