Lansing Sun

Michigan State men's soccer lost its road Big Ten opener, 2-1, to Penn State Friday night behind a late 87th-minute goal by the Nittany Lions.

With the loss, the Spartans fall to 2-4-2 this season and 1-1-0 in B1G play, while the Nittany Lions snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 3-5-0 this season and 1-2-0 in league action.

"What a college soccer game. It had everything," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "It had goals and end-to-end action. Both teams carried possession for large portions of the game. Credit to Penn State they made a play at the end of the game. We had a couple chances to go up 2-0 and couldn't quite pull it off. Winning on the road in the Big Ten is difficult and there is so much parity in this conference. We knew we were going to get a very good Penn State and a tough game."

The Nittany Lions held possession early on with more chances in the first 30 minutes. Redshirt-junior Zac Kelly was forced to make two early saves to keep the game scoreless.

In the 33rd minute, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan entered the game and had an immediate impact forcing PSU goalkeeper Andrew Cooke to make his first save of the game.

In the 39th minute, the Spartans got on the scoreboard. In a play that started with Kelly, senior midfielder Shion Soga eventually found junior midfielder Jonathan Stout on the left-hand side. Stout's blast was out of Cooke's reach as the Spartans took a 1-0 lead. Stout leads the Spartans with three goals this season.

In the 49th minute, Aboubacar Camara found the equalizer to tie the game at 1-1.

Both teams fought to find the go-ahead goal, but Penn State finally broke through in the 87th minute. After a Michigan State foul, Matthew Henderson's free kick found Malick Daouda to give PSU a 2-1 advantage.

The Spartans had several late opportunities but were unable to find an equalizer.

Junior midfielder Jeremy Sharp and Stout both had shots in the 89th minute.

"I am proud of the guys and their effort," Rensing said. "They laid everything out on the field," Rensing said. "We are just one or two plays off and as soon as that catches we will be good to go. I am very, very proud of this team."

Michigan State remains on the road to take on UCLA on Friday, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network.