Come early for Student Appreciation Night with food trucks on the plaza area of Old College Field, along with a DJ and yard games!
EAST LANSING, Mich. –
Michigan State men’s soccer closes out its three-game homestand, hosting in-state rival Western Michigan on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium. The men’s game is the second-half of a doubleheader with the MSU women, who will face Dartmouth at 5 p.m.
Zach Surdenik and Owen Oszust will be on the call on the Big Ten Network+ broadcast.
Michigan State suffered its first loss of the season after a 3-2 loss to No. 4 Notre Dame at home on Aug. 29. Jack Beck and Vedad Kovac scored two second-half goals as MSU mounted a late comeback.
LOOKING AT THE BRONCOS
Michigan State holds a 35-3-8 series lead over Western Michigan and lead 22-1-4 mark at DeMartin Stadium. The Broncos have gotten the best of the Spartans in the last two meetings, winning 2-0 in Kalamazoo last season. In 2019, Western Michigan earned its first-ever win over Michigan State in East Lansing with a 1-0 victory.
The Broncos opened the season with a 2-0 loss to Butler
LAST TIME AGAINST WESTERN MICHIGAN
On Oct. 13, 2021, MSU fell to WMU 2-0 in Kalamazoo in its non-conference regular-season in finale. With the loss, the Spartans fell to 5-6-2 overall, while Western Michigan improved to 4-4-4 overall. Michigan State was coming off of back-to-back double overtime games. The Spartans were never able to get the offense going and were out-shot for the game, 8-3. The Spartans were shut out for only the fourth time this season.
UP NEXT
Michigan State will now play four its next five games on the road. The Spartans will face No. 14 Akron on Monday, Sept. 5 and Bowling Green on Friday, Sept. 9. After the two-game road swing, MSU will return home to the friendly confines to take on Chicago State on Monday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Four different players have scored MSU’s four goals this season. Redshirt-senior defender Will Perkins and freshman forward Jake Spadafora scored in the win against Army, while graduate midfielder Jack Beck and junior midfielder Vedad Kovac found the back of the net against No. 4 Notre Dame.
FINDING THE 11
Eight Spartans have started the first two games of the season, including seniors Jack Beck, Will Perkins and Nick Stone. New comers Elijah Howe and Owen Finnerty have both played in both matches. Sophomore Josh Adam and redshirt-junior Kellan Landefeld have also added a pair of starts.
Freshmen Jake Spadafora and Jack Guggemos have both started one match, along with Vedad Kovac and Zack Babiak.
PRESEASON HONORS
Michigan State men’s soccer team had three players named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list on Monday, as announced by the conference office.
Graduate midfielder Jack Beck, redshirt-senior defender Will Perkins and junior forward Grayson Mercer were all honored by the league.
The Big Ten preseason poll was also released Monday, as voted on by the nine league coaches. MSU was voted to pick sixth, while reigning Big Ten Tournament champion, Penn State, was voted to finish first. Indiana was voted to finish second, with Maryland taking the third position.
Beck, a native of DeWitt, Michigan, is a two-time All-Big Ten selection for the Spartans, earning first-team honors last season. He was second on the team in scoring in 2021 with nine points. Beck ended last season third in the Big Ten in assists with seven.
Perkins, a Detroit, Michigan native, returns for his fifth season with Michigan State. He started all 17 games last season. Also in 2021, Perkins was fourth on the team in scoring with two goals and two assists for six points.
Mercer, who hails from Heber City, Utah, enters his third season with the Spartans. He has played in 13 games over the last two seasons with four starts.
LOOKING AT THE PRESEASON
The Spartans ended exhibition action with a 1-2 record in three home games. MSU opened with a 3-0 win against Lawrence Tech on Aug. 10 behind goals by freshman forward Jonathan Stout, senior midfielder Conner George and sophomore forward Efosa Emovon. MSU then dropped a pair of hard-fought 1-0 battles against Butler on Aug. 14 and No. 7 Pitt on Aug. 19.
NEWCOMERS
The Spartans welcome nine new players to the 2022 roster with seven freshmen and two transfers. Graduate goalkeeper Owen Finnerty may look familiar to Spartan fans, transferring from Michigan. Junior defender Elijah Howe comes to MSU from West Florida. The seven freshmen include freshman midfielder Jack Guggemos from Okemos and Jake Spadafora from Northville.
OLDTIMERS
Michigan State brings back several veterans to the 2022 squad. Both Jack Beck and Will Perkins will return for their fifth seasons with MSU. The duo of captains are the final to Spartans on the roster who were a part of the 2018 College Cup squad.
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
The Spartan have named three captains this season. Leading MSU will be seniors Jack Beck, Will Perkins and Louis Sala. This is the second-straight season that Beck and Perkins are captains.