Michigan State Midweek Preview: Western Michigan

The Spartans couldn’t take down their #1 rival on Saturday, but they still have a divisional title to win. By beating Western Michigan, they can wrap up the CCLA West, and clinch their berth in the CCLA tournament, where they’d take on Pitt in round 1.

Western Michigan

Wednesday 7PM, Vicksburg High School.
Record: 2-2 (1-0 CCLA West)
Rankings: 80 (Computer).
Common Opponents: None.

Schedule

Western hasn’t played a whole lot of games (though I didn’t note a loss to MCLA D2 squad Ferris State in the record above), but when they have played, they haven’t accomplished much. The majority of their games will come this weekend, as they have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday contests.

Thus far, their wins on the season were over a pair of CCLA squads in Ball State out of the West (19-8) and Toledo out of the East (12-9). They’ve lost to West Virginia and Buffalo out of conference, along with the previously-mentioned defeat to MCLA D2 Ferris State.

Personnel

A pair of seniors are scoring more than 3 points per game, attacks Antonio Boggiano and Bradley McDougal. Junior midfielder Alex Thurman is next on the team in points per game with 2.4, but he’s mostly a feeder whereas the others are finishers. Attackmen Jeremy Payton and Trevor Johnson are also earning most of their 2 points each game through goals, not assists.

A pair of the Broncos’ captains are defensive players, in junior close defense Matt Holden and senior LSM Charlie Thibault. Another defenseman, junior Kevin Scott, is near the top of the team’s ground ball charts.

In goal, sophomore captain Chris Ostrowski is splitting time with junior Eric Frank. Ostrowski is better in every statistical respect, including save%, goals against, and most importantly, wins.

Predictions

This is an overmatched opponent for the Spartans. As long as they can avoid a letdown after the emotional game against Michigan, they should be able to cruise in this one. I think a 17-4 Spartan victory is in order.