Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan St
Men's Soccer Falls 1-0 to Michigan State
9/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 30, 2001
Evanston, Ill. - It was a near perfect day in Evanston on Sunday--the temperature was in the high 70's, the sun was shining, and a slight wind was coming across the lake. Most students were outside relaxing and enjoying one of the last pleasant days of the fall.
At Lakeside Field, however, life was far from relaxing. The Northwestern men's soccer squad was squaring off against the visiting Spartans from Michigan State in what turned into an all-out dogfight to the finish.
For 90 minutes, the two teams managed to commit 45 fouls and were handed eight yellow cards--five for MSU and three for NU. And in a physical battle between two conference foes looking for their first Big Ten win of the season, it would take almost the entire 90 minutes for a winner to be decided.
In the 89th minute, MSU's John Minagawa-Webster hit Thomas Trivrlloni with a pass just eight yards in front of NU goalie Ryan Pederson (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North). Trivrlloni then slipped the ball past Pederson with less than two minutes to play in the game, notching the lone goal of the contest and giving the Spartans the 1-0 victory.
The 'Cats outshot the Spartans in the first half, but were unable to convert. The second half was a different story, though, as MSU sent a barrage of shots Pederson's way. The Spartans got 12 shots off to the 'Cats five in the last 45 minutes of action.
NU's best opportunity of the day came in the opening minutes of play, when Daniel Doman (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Country Day) headed a crossing path from five yards out, but MSU keeper Mike Robinson snagged the shot to record his only save of the afternoon.
The 'Cats will travel to Penn State on Friday to take on the Nittany Lions at 7 p.m., then return to Lakeside Field on Sunday to host Western Illinois at 3:30 p.m. in the second game of a soccer doubleheader. Northwestern's women will kick off the day with Iowa at 1 p.m.
