Lansing Sun

Michigan State Men's Soccer to Conclude Homestand Against Air Force

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer will conclude its season-long four-game homestand against Air Force on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

The Spartans fell to 1-2-1 this season after a hard-fought loss to then-No. 5 Oregon State on Sept. 2. Freshman forward Mohamed Saad scored his first collegiate goal against the Beavers.

Charles Schmidgall and Kyle Keegan are set to call the game for B1G+.

Air Force is looking for its first win of the season. The Falcons started with a 1-0 loss to then-No. 10 SMU in Dallas and suffered two subsequent home losses to Army and new Big Ten opponent Washington, both by scores of 2-1.

Nick Bisagno and Logan Zaa lead Air Force in scoring with one goal each for two points. William Collins has started all three games this season in goal, allowing three goals in 182 minutes for a 1.48 GAA and making 13 saves.

Michigan State and Air Force have met four times previously, with the Spartans leading the series 2-1-1. The teams last met in 1973 when Air Force secured its only victory, winning 4-0 in East Lansing.

Through four games this season, MSU has used three different starting lineups. Six Spartans—Zac Kelly, Shion Soga, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, Will Eby, and Josh Adam—have started all games so far, with Adam, Kelly, and Eby playing every minute.

Seven teams in the Big Ten are ranked in either the United Soccer Coaches Poll or the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. In the USC poll, UCLA is No. 6 while Northwestern and Wisconsin are ninth and tenth respectively. In the Top Drawer Poll, UCLA stands at No. 4 while Indiana is No. 9.

Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 11 saves. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for sixth in shots with 11.

This season introduces rule changes where the clock stops on substitutions if there are less than fifteen minutes left in a tied game or if the leading team makes a substitution during any stoppage of time. Teams now have six moments to make substitutions per game with specific exceptions not counting as moments under certain conditions.

Senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan scored Michigan State's first goal of the season from a penalty kick against No. 25 SIUE in a match that ended in a tie.

Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout was named to the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List—the most prestigious individual award in college soccer presented annually to outstanding male and female players of the year.

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

The Spartans welcome eight new players this season: four freshmen and four transfers including Levin Gerhardt from CSUN and Shion Soga from South Florida among others.

Michigan State returns its top eight scorers from last season including senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan who led with six goals for twelve points last year.

Next up for Michigan State is an away game against Oakland on Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

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

###