Lansing Sun

Michigan State Men's Soccer Opens Season Against No. 25 SIUE

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer will commence the 2024 season by traveling to No. 25 SIUE on Thursday, Aug. 22 at 9 p.m. ET at Ralph Korte Stadium. This marks the earliest start to a season for the Spartans and their first encounter with SIUE since a 0-0 tie in East Lansing in 2019.

The Spartans concluded the 2023 season with a record of 7-2-7, including a Big Ten mark of 3-1-4, setting a school record with seven ties.

### Looking at the Cougars ###

The series between Michigan State and SIUE stands tied at 2-2-2. Their last meeting was in East Lansing in 2019, ending in a goalless draw. The matchup was notable as it marked Cale Wassermann's first season as an assistant coach under head coach Damon Rensing.

SIUE is projected to finish first in the Ohio Valley Conference following a historic 2023 season where they posted a record of 16-1-3 and went undefeated (9-0-1) in OVC play. Their sole defeat came against Memphis during the NCAA Tournament's first round.

### Series History ###

The teams have faced each other six times historically, with MSU holding an overall advantage of 1-0 on neutral ground after winning their match-up in Boca Raton, Florida in 1995 by a score of 4-0. In East Lansing, MSU is yet to win with an all-time record of 0-1-2, while they are even at Edwardsville with one win apiece.

### Preseason Honors ###

Three Michigan State players were named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List: juniors Jeremy Sharp, Jake Spadafora, and Jonathan Stout.

The Big Ten preseason poll placed MSU fifth out of eleven teams; Indiana was favored to win the league again this year.

Sharp from Roseville earned his spot on the B1G Player to Watch list for the first time after receiving second-team All-Big Ten honors last year and third-team All-North Region honors. He scored seven points from one goal and five assists last season.

Stout from Wyoming was second on team scoring last year with ten points from five goals and was named first-team All-Big Ten as well as first-team All-North Region honors previously.

Spadafora from Northville also earned second-team All-Big Ten honors along with second-team All-North Region accolades last year; he had three goals and one assist totaling seven points for MSU.

### Preseason Play ###

In preparation for this season, MSU played two exhibition games: defeating Butler away (3-2) on Aug.12 but falling short against UIC (1-0) at home on Aug16.

### Newcomers ###

MSU has added eight new players for this year's roster consisting of four freshmen alongside four transfers including senior midfielders Levin Gerhardt from CSUN & Shion Soga from South Florida plus redshirt-junior goalkeeper Michael Sly Jr.from Oakland University among others like freshman goalkeeper Jake Grekowicz etc., all bringing fresh energy into Spartan’s squad line-up this term!

### Guess Who's Back? ###

Returning key scorers include senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan who led team scoring last year along-with other top-eight returning talents featuring sharp junior pairings such as Jonathan Stout & Jeremy Sharp maintaining crucial depth within current squad ranks headed under Coach Damon Rensing continuing his tenure over past sixteen years leading Spartan Men Soccer affairs aided ably through Assistant Coaches TJ Kolba(6th), Nick Barry(5th) & Reid Friedrichs now into his sophomore stint back coaching alma mater post distinguished playing career himself earlier period here notably crowned BigTenPlayerOfYear96!

Up Next:

After opening match vs SIUE upcoming fixtures see hosting Bowling Green(Mon26Aug) followed next Villanova(Fri30Sep).

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