Men's Soccer: Michigan State 2, Marquette 0

October 4, 2011 - The last time that Louis Bennett's squad was shut out at home in a regular season match.

October 19, 2011 - The last time that Louis Bennett's squad lost a regular season match at home.

These two things are probably connected in a less than esoteric way.

Michigan State's Zach Bennett made five saves, including three in an eight minute stretch late in the second half, to earn a clean sheet along with the 2-0 win for the Spartans. The MSU defense came up huge in the second half as they defended their two goal lead, blocking six of the 16 shots that Marquette took.

Michigan State first got on the board in the 35th minute when Tim Kreutz took a shot from about 10 yards out and Axel Sjoberg tried to make a sliding block on the shot. The ball deflected off the 6'7" Swede and headed straight for the top of the net. The Spartans jumped on MU early in the second half to pad their lead when Sean Conerty only needed one touch to finish off a Brent McIntosh cross in the 51st minute.

As mentioned before, Marquette had their chances in the second half, piling up 16 shots compared to just three for MSU. The Golden Eagles also had nine corner kicks in the last 45 minutes, but they were unable to get the ball to shake the blue and gold netting behind Bennett on any of their ensuing shots.

Marquette falls to 3-2-1 on the season as they suffer their first loss of the season without senior midfielder Bryan Ciesiulka in the lineup. Ciesiulka missed his fifth straight game after being diagnosed with a concussions following the season opener against UWM.

Up Next: Loyola-Chicago (3-2-0) comes to the Valley on Saturday night, as men's soccer will be the second part of a doubleheader. Marquette's women's team will be playing Louisville on the front end.