Second year Luciano Pechota races up the field during Ohio State’s 3-0 loss against Penn State at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Credit: Lance Haupricht | For The Lantern
With under four minutes left in the match, Buckeye senior midfielder Luciano Pechota scored the game-winning goal to earn a 3-2 win over the Spartans.
Pechota and Ohio State men’s soccer’s three goals (4-6-5, 2-4-1 Big Ten) handed Michigan State (7-1-6, 3-1-4) its first loss of the season Tuesday at DeMartin Stadium. The Buckeyes had a strong start with 10 shot attempts to the Spartan’s three. The first goal came from Pechota at 24:54 to give Ohio State a 1-0 advantage.
Sophomore midfielder Marko Borkovic sent in the second goal of the match, assisted by junior midfielder Anthony Samways for the 2-0 lead. The goal marked Borkovic’s second of the season.
The Buckeyes maintained their 2-0 lead to end the first half.
In the second half, a whole different Spartan offense came out as they controlled the pace with their 19 shot attempts to the Buckeyes’ seven. The 19 attempts were the most allowed by the Buckeye defense in a half this season.
Spartan junior midfielder Sean Kerrigan scored in less than three minutes to cut the lead to 2-1 off a penalty-goal shot. Buckeye senior midfielder Parker Grinstead was called for the foul in the box.
At 73:48, Spartan sophomore forward Jonathan Stout found the equalizer to tie the game at two apiece.
Pechota notched the game-winning goal to put the Buckeyes ahead 3-2 with 3:27 left to play. This is Pechota’s fourth goal of the season and second multi-score game.
The Buckeye defense stayed strong for the final few minutes to secure a road game win against a Big Ten opponent.
Ohio State’s all-time record against the Spartans now stands at 26-29-3.
The last regular season matchup for the Buckeyes will be against Maryland at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Sunday at noon.
