EAST LANSING, Mich. – In the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Bluejays, Michigan State men’s soccer traveled to third-ranked Creighton Tuesday evening and settled for a 2-2 tie.

“We got up a goal and twice gave up leads,” said MSU head coach Damon Rensing to msuspartans.com. “Certain teams on the road, when they think they are up 1-0 at Creighton and they give up a goal to tie, they go up 2-1 and give up another one, they can fold. I thought we showed great character by giving up those leads and then continuing to persevere to try to get the win, and unfortunately we couldn’t do it.”

Spartan forward Fatai Alashe gave the Spartans their initial lead in the 14th minute. A Ryan Thelen throw-in set up a number of deflections within the six-yard box, before Alashe placed the ball past Bluejay goaltender Alex Bolowich for an early 1-0 lead.

Eight minutes later, Creighton answered when freshman forward Marvin Iskra placed a shot from eight yards out into the top of the Spartan net.

Later, forward Tim Kreutz headed a ball initially deflected off the crossbar into the back of the Bluejay net, to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.

Creighton quickly responded with a goal from senior midfielder Bruno Castro two minutes after the Spartan’s goal. Castro received a cross near the penalty spot, and headed it past a diving Zach Bennett to tie the game.

“I think the tie is a fair result and that’s a great sign for our program,” said Rensing to msuspartans.com.  “When you look at some of the teams we’ve played this year, whether its in exhibition or the regular season and certainly some neutral and on the road and a good Oregon State team at home, we’re right there with all of them. I think, just like Creighton (5-1-1), we can go back and now see what we can do to make sure we can win these types of games.”

The Spartans (4-1-1) return home to face Northern Illinois this Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Impact Stat

-MSU goalkeeper Zach Bennett allowed his first goal in over two games to Iskra, allowing Creighton to tie the game 1-1

Jonathan Yales is the host of Corner Kick for Impact Sports

Photo: Jonathan Yales