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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Michigan State Blanks BGSU in Season Opener, 3-0
September 01, 2004 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 1, 2004
Bowling Green, Ohio - Michigan State added onto a 1-0 halftime lead with two more in the second half to defeat host Bowling Green, 3-0, in the season-opener for both teams. The game was played at BGSU practice facility due to poor game-field conditions. MSU's Jordan Gruber scored his first of two goals at 21:54 with an assist from John Kaczmarek for a 1-0 Spartan lead. MSU outshot the Falcons 11-0 in the first half with six on net. BGSU redshirt-sophomore Brandon Decker made five saves in 45 minutes of work. Freshman Tyler Dollins entered at goal for the second half for BGSU and allowed two goals by the Spartans, one from J. Minagawa-Webster at 60:58 and Gruber's second of the game at 71:56. Dollins ended with three saves. "The first game of the year you think you know what you're going to get, but not quite sure," said Fred Thompson, who was making his Division I and BGSU coaching debut. "This was going to be a test for us to see what we needed to work on. We worked on things in the preseason that I didn't see here. "As long as we move forward from here, we'll be okay." MSU held a 24-2 shot advantage for the game with 12 shots on goal. BGSU's two shots came from Francisco Sanchez and Adrian Akpan. The Falcons (0-1-0) host the first annual Kelme Classic this weekend (Sept. 4-5). The site for the tournament is still scheduled for Mickey Cochrane Stadium. Loyola-Chicago plays St. Bonaventure at 1 p.m. on Saturday while the host Falcons take on IUPUI at 3 p.m.
