Lansing Sun

After two games on the road, Michigan State University's men's soccer team returns home to face Northwestern in a Big Ten match on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 8 p.m., broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

MSU currently holds a 3-4-2 overall record and is 2-1-0 in league play following a recent 1-0 victory against No. 15 UCLA. Northwestern arrives with a 5-4-0 overall record and an 0-3-0 mark in Big Ten contests.

Jack Kizer and Chris Munroe will provide commentary for the Big Ten Network during the game.

Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout leads Michigan State in scoring with four goals and one assist, having scored in three consecutive games. He also tops the team in shots on goal with nine, followed by senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan with eight. Sophomore forward Richie Ludwig, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan, and freshman forward Mohamed Saad have also contributed goals this season.

Northwestern's Italio Addimandi and Collin McCamy lead their team with four points each, both having one goal and two assists. Nine different Wildcats have scored this season. Goalkeeper Rafael Ponce de León has played every minute for Northwestern this season, allowing only eight goals across nine games for a 0.89 GAA.

Historically, Michigan State has dominated the series against Northwestern with a 34-10-5 overall record. The Spartans are particularly strong at home with a 17-3-2 record in East Lansing but have lost three of the last five meetings between these teams.

Michigan State secured its first road win of the season against No. 15 UCLA on Sept. 27, thanks to an early goal from Jonathan Stout.

In conference statistics, Jonathan Stout is tied for fourth place in goals scored within the Big Ten, while Wisconsin's Dean Boltz leads with eight goals. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly ranks third in saves within the conference with 28 saves and has allowed only two goals over three conference games for a GAA of 0.67.

Freshman defender Brandon Munson has been notable this season, starting eight out of nine games and making a significant bicycle kick save against Washington that was highlighted as ESPN SportsCenter's No.1 play.

Michigan State ranks thirteenth nationally in attendance this season, averaging 1,808 fans per game.

The Spartans have utilized seven different starting lineups over nine games this season; however, Zac Kelly, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, and Josh Adam have started all nine matches.

Five teams from the Big Ten are currently ranked either by United Soccer Coaches or Top Drawer Soccer polls: Ohio State (No.4), Wisconsin (No.8), Maryland (No.19), Michigan (No.25) according to USC; while Top Drawer Poll lists Wisconsin (No.8), Ohio State (No.10), UCLA (No.15), Maryland (No.18), and Michigan (No.18).

Michigan State began its Big Ten schedule against new member Washington on Sept.13 and boasts a strong record of seven wins from their last ten league openers.

Offensively challenged so far this season, MSU has managed just seven goals across nine games without scoring more than once per game thus far.

Jonathan Stout was named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List earlier this year - an honor awarded annually to top college soccer players - becoming the first Spartan since Giuseppe Barone & Patrick Nielsen were listed back in2019

Three MSU players were included among those listed under “Big Ten Players To Watch” including juniors Jeremy Sharp , Jake Spadafora alongside aforementioned Jonathan Stout .

Following Tuesday’s matchup vs Northwestern at home , MSU travels next weekend away facing off against No .19 Maryland set Saturday October fifth scheduled evening kickoff timed around half past seven pm local time .

Head coach Damon Rensing now enters his sixteenth term coaching role overseeing Spartans’ program joined by assistants TJ Kolba(Nick Barry) plus second-year assistant Reid Friedrichs holding extensive prior playing experience notably recognized being named ‘BigTenPlayerOfYear’ back mid-nineties tenure representing school colors green white respectively .