Mastodons Come up Short in Exhibition against No. 9 Spartans

Friday, August 21

Fort Wayne, Ind.

6 P.M.

Purdue Fort Wayne

Michigan State (Exhibition)

Mastodons Come up Short in Exhibition against No. 9 Spartans

8/21/2015 9:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Fort Wayne, Ind. – Despite a solid effort defensively, the IPFW men's soccer team battled the ninth-ranked Michigan State Spartans, but fell short 2-0 in Friday's exhibition match at the Shindigz National Soccer Festival.

The Mastodons were going toe-to-toe with the Spartans throughout the first half of the match, keeping it scoreless until the 43rd minute of play. Following a yellow card on Jacob Murphy for a rough takedown just outside the box, Michigan State's Ryan Sierakowski found the back of the net off the free kick. Sierakowski's goal went just by a diving Raphael Kotzock on his right side.

Despite letting up a first half goal, Kotzock made arguably the play of the match for the 'Dons as he went one-on-one with the MSU's DeJuan Jones in the 36th minute. After beating a defender on his right, Jones only had the 6-foot-7 goalkeeper to beat. Just as the shot went off, Kotzock went down to his right, blocking off any hope of a Spartan goal.

Entering the 56th minute of action, Michigan State would add to its goal total as Sierakowski put another one in the net, giving the Spartans a two goal lead. Andrew Herr crossed the ball in from the left side as Sierakowski finished to Kotzock's right.

Both Darren Doyle and Jose Rodriguez placed shots on goal in the opening period, with Doyle's coming in the 14th minute. Rodriguez would follow five minutes later with a shot of his own, but the Spartan goalkeeper was solid throughout, making both stops.

The Blue and White managed to keep even with Michigan State as each team earned three shots on goal. The Spartans held a 6-3 edge in corner kicks and a 3-1 upper hand on saves.

IPFW returns to action on Saturday, August 22 with a friendly against FC Ajax in the final tune-up match before the regular season. The exhibition match will begin at 11 a.m., at the Hefner Soccer Complex. IPFW will open its regular season on Friday, August 28 against Saint Joseph's (Ind.) at 7 p.m., also at the Hefner Soccer Complex.

~ Feel the Rumble ~