Lansing Sun

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer will play its third consecutive home game facing No. 19/5 Oregon State in a Labor Day match on Monday at 1 p.m.

The Spartans improved to 1-1-1 this season after a 1-0 win against Villanova on Aug. 30, earning their first shutout of the season with redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly making three saves.

Matt Merrifield and Yousef Enayah will provide commentary for B1G+.

No. 19/5 Oregon State also holds a 1-1-1 record this season. The Beavers began with a home win against UC Irvine, followed by a loss to Washington and a tie at Michigan on Friday. This season marks Oregon State's transition from the PAC 12 to the West Coast Conference, where they were predicted to finish first ahead of Portland and San Diego. Ellis Spikner leads the team in scoring with five points from two goals and one assist, while Pere Belemonte follows with one goal. Both John Nicolson and Gandhi Cruz have played as goalkeepers for Oregon State, with Nicolson starting against Michigan on Aug. 30.

Michigan State and Oregon State have faced each other twice before, both times in East Lansing, with the Spartans leading the series 2-0. The first matchup was in 2007, and MSU won again in 2013 by a margin of 1-0.

MSU has utilized three different starting lineups across their first three games this season. Six Spartans—Zac Kelly, Shion Soga, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, Will Eby, and Josh Adam—have started all three games. Adam, Kelly, and Eby have played every minute this season.

Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly ranks second in the Big Ten in saves with nine, while senior midfielder Shion Soga is fourth in shots with eight.

New rule changes this season include stopping the clock during substitutions if there are less than 15 minutes left and the game is tied or if the winning team makes a substitution. Teams can make substitutions during any stoppage of time but are limited to six moments per game for substitutions unless exceptions apply.

Senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan scored Michigan State's first goal of the season in a tie against No. 25 SIUE and continues his strong performance from penalty kicks last season when he led the team with six goals.

Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout was named to the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List for college soccer’s most prestigious individual award. He is the first Spartan since Giuseppe Barone and Patrick Nielsen in 2019 to make this list.

Three players from Michigan State 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 following league expansion which included UCLA and Washington.

The Spartans welcomed eight new players this year: four freshmen—goalkeeper Jake Grekowicz, forward Oscar Huerta, defender Brandon Munson, midfielder Jared Smid—and four transfers including Levin Gerhardt from CSUN and Shion Soga from South Florida among others.

Returning top scorers include senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan who led last season with six goals for twelve points; junior midfielder Jonathan Stout who had ten points; juniors Jake Spadafora and Jeremy Sharp who each had seven points; along with redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly who allowed only fifteen goals over sixteen games last season.

The Spartans conclude their homestand against Air Force on Friday at 7 p.m.

MSU head coach Damon Rensing enters his sixteenth season alongside assistant coaches T.J. Kolba (sixth season), Nick Barry (fifth year), and Reid Friedrichs (second year).