Oct. 1, 2011
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Missouri State men's soccer team (2-5-2) was unable to bounce back after surrendering a goal to Northwestern (4-4-1) in the second minute of action, as they dropped a 2-0 decision on Saturday night in Evanston, Ill.
Coming off of a 6-1 home win against Oral Roberts on Tuesday, the Bears looked to build on their recent success, but couldn't muster up any goals against the physical Big Ten Conference opponent.
"It was a tough place to go into and we ended up putting ourselves in the hole early on," head coach Jon Leamy said. "We just have to regroup as a team and prepare for the conference opener."
In the 39th minute, Northwestern midfielder Kyle Schickel tallied his second assist of the evening with an on-target feed to midfielder Lepe Seetane. Hanging out smack dab in the middle of the box, the 5-foot-2 Seetane found himself in position and headed it right past redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg to give the Wildcats a commanding 2-0 lead.
The shot totals were even heading into the break as Northwestern and Missouri State fired off four shots apiece.
With the physical play and frustration carrying over into the second half, the Bears struggled to find the net and found very few legitimate scoring opportunities. Sophomore Jared Gain nearly closed the gap with 10 minutes remaining. He rifled off a shot to the left side of the net that narrowly missed the crossbar.
Sophomore Danny Frid and Heath Melugin led the MSU offense with two shots and one shot on goal each. The Bears outshot Northwestern 9-7 and also had five shots on goal compared to the Wildcats' three.
Missouri State returns home to Plaster Field for its Missouri Valley Conference opener against Central Arkansas on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
