Lansing Sun

Michigan State men's soccer dropped a hard-fought home opener to Bowling Green, 1-0, at DeMartin Stadium on Monday night.

"We created four or five one-on-one opportunities with the goalkeeper. Credit to the goalie (Brendan Graves); he was the man of the match. He made unbelievable saves, so credit to him," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "I think you just need to see the ball go in once. Soccer is a frugal game. We are doing the right things in training, we are getting good spots; we just have to have the confidence to put it away. I think once you see one go in, guys will relax and make some plays."

With the loss, the Spartans fall to 0-1-1 this season, while Bowling Green improves to 2-0-0.

Early on, Michigan State controlled the run of play, but Graves was solid in net for Bowling Green. Senior midfielder Shion Soga led the Spartans with six shots, including one on goal. In the first half, MSU had a slight lead in shots 6-5.

In the 71st minute, the Falcons scored the only goal of the game. Bennett Painter's header off passes from Alberto Anaya and Kyle Cuisimano put Bowling Green on top 1-0.

"I think there are a couple things we have to clean up, and we have to do some soul searching a little bit too on some things," Rensing said. "The good and bad of college soccer is that you do not dwell on a loss too long because you have another game; the bad thing is you have another game right away. We'll get this ready, and it should be a fun game on Friday against Villanova. It's football's home opener; I think we will get a good crowd and a good chance for us to turn the ship."

With just seconds remaining, a Falcon foul was called just outside the box. Michigan State was able to get one final shot off as Soga's shot sailed high.

For the game, MSU out-shot BGSU 19-9, including 13-4 in the second half. Spartan goalkeeper Zac Kelly made four saves while Graves stopped six shots.

The Spartans will now take on Villanova on Friday, Aug. 30 at 12 p.m.at DeMartin Stadium. MSU fans with a ticket to the Spartan football game can earn free admittance to the soccer game. Fans coming to watch are encouraged to park at Kellogg Center with parking ramps five and six also available.