The 2000 Big Ten champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes, failed to get past Michigan State for the second time this year when they lost to the Spartans 2-1 yesterday.
The Spartans (11-6-1, 4-3 Big Ten) knocked the nationally ranked Buckeyes (10-6-2,1-5-1 in the Big Ten) out of the Big Ten championship tournament by making a second-half comeback victory to seal the game.
The Buckeyes got on the board first with a goal late in the first half by Justin Cook. Jake Traeger assisted the goal when he set up the outside kick that was shortly knocked in by Cook. Ohio had been pressing the Michigan State defense throughout the first half, having it pay off in the Traeger-Cook goal.
Michigan State, on the other hand, stayed scoreless in the first and saw little action on the offensive end of the field. Defensively, they were able to hold Ohio State to only one score and were required to make fairly few saves at the goal in the first part of the game.
The Buckeyes went into the second half with the 1-0 advantage, but the Spartans came into the second half fired up and quickly tied up the game 10 minutes into the half with a unassisted Jeff Krass goal.
The 5-foot-10 midfielder led the team to victory after making the two winning goals; the last came midway through the half on assists from forwards Ryan McMahen and Brett Konley to blow one by Ohio State goalkeeper Kerry Thompson.
“[Krass] has been a money player for us all year,” MSU head coach Joe Baum said. “He seems to come through in clutch situations, and he did it again today.”
Michigan State held Ohio State scoreless in the second half and sealed up the 2-1 win. The Spartans moved on to the semifinals to take place today at 6 p.m. against Penn State at the McClimon Track and Soccer Complex. The loss likely knocked the Buckeyes out of a possible NCAA tournament berth. OSU received an automatic bid last year after winning the conference tournament in Columbus.
— Kristin Zobel
Penn State 2, Northwestern 0: Northwestern presumptively scheduled a makeup game with Valparaiso for Sunday, Nov. 11.
Wildcat coach Tim Lenahan might have been showing an unreasonable lack of confidence in his players — Sunday is incidentally the date of the Big Ten tournament championship game — if only Northwestern had won a game all season.
Indeed, NU went 0-13-3 in 2001, matching its win total from the previous year and dragging Lenahan into the mire that cost former coach Mike Kunert his job.
His team lived up to form Thursday in their opening-round matchup with second-seeded Penn State, getting shut out by the Nittany Lions 2-0.
With the game in hand, Penn State coach Barry Gorman was liberal with substitutions, playing his second team for much of a scoreless second half.
“We basically tried to get a couple of goals and then get some rest so we’re not faced with this mammoth task of playing three games in four days,” Gorman said. “Given the fact that it’s a cold night, we’re happy to get through this stage and look forward to tomorrow’s game.”
PSU started slowly, allowing the Wildcats into its own zone frequently in the game’s first 25 minutes. Referees permitted rough play early, and Northwestern took advantage to set a physical tone.
Time caught up with NU, however, and Penn State broke through in the 27th minute when a pass penetrated the last Northwestern line and was knocked away by a defender.
Brent Jacquette’s ensuing corner kick arced to Ricardo Villar, who set up Gabe Bernstein for the opening score.
Four minutes later, PSU’s Chad Severs powered a line drive from 30 yards away that sailed untouched to the back of the Northwestern net, putting the Nittany Lions ahead 2-0.
The early lead enabled Gorman to rest his players, which might make a difference against a Michigan State team that extended itself heavily for a hard-fought win over OSU.
— Lars Russell
