Saturday, February 27
University Park, Pa.
2 PM
Michigan State University
1-2-0, 1-2-0
1
at
0
No. 20 Penn State
2-1-0, 2-1-0
1
2
F
Michigan St.
0
1
1
Penn St.
0
0
0
Team Stats
MSU
PSU
Goals
1
0
Shots
15
7
Shots on Goal
4
0
Saves
0
3
Corners
9
4
Fouls
12
16
Scoring Plays
Jack Beck (1)
Assisted By: Michael Miller
GOAL by MSU Beck, Jack Assist by Miller, Michael.
86:55
Game Leaders
Shots
5
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
5
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
mid
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
MSU Men’s Soccer Pulls Off 1-0 Upset Win At No. 20 Penn State
2/27/2021 5:42:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Spartans secured their first win on the season with a goal by Jack Beck.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Playing their first out-of-state road game, the Michigan State men's soccer team won a hard defensive battle, 1-0, with a goal from junior midfielder Jack Beck at No. 20 Penn State at Holuba Hall Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Michigan State stands at 1-2, handing Penn State their first loss of the conference-only schedule who is now 2-1.
"I was really proud of our guys, what a great effort, and what a team effort," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "Penn State was 2-0 and had eight starters returning from 2019, and a good group of seniors. That's a very good, well-coached team. It's tough to come in here to this indoor place and play, but you've got to our guys credit; I think they really deserved it. I think the shots were 15-7, corners were 9-4, and I thought everybody played great as a group, and certainly something to build off."
Both teams battled on the defensive end and looked for the back of the net early in the contest. Senior midfielder Michael Miller got the first shot for MSU in the first minute. The Nittany Lions went back and forth with the Spartans but no success for either side.That's 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡 & 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣!!
— MSU Men's Soccer (@MSUmsoccer) February 27, 2021
Jack Beck with the Spartans' goal in the 87th minute for the 1-0 #VictoryForMSU upset at No. 20 Penn State!#GoGreen | @J_beck_23 pic.twitter.com/YqzBguNXB2
The half would end scoreless with the Spartans leading shots taken at 7-3.
In the second half, Beck and junior forward Farai Mutatu had a couple of missed opportunities that didn't find the back of the net. The Spartans kept fighting with shots from Miller and Matatu, but a couple of saves were notched by Penn State goalkeeper Owen Elliott.
Beck found the back of the net in the 87th minute for MSU with an assist from Michael Miller. After Beck took the corner kick, the ball was deflected back and forth, before Miller controlled it and lofted a nice pass over the PSU defense to Beck, who chipped in a shot that originally bounced off the post, but quickly off a PSU defender and into the goal. Beck's goal would go on to be the game-winning goal to help the Spartans secure an upset win on the road against Penn State.
Redshirt-junior Hunter Morse picks up his first win of the season in net with the Spartan victory.
"We've had a tough start, we haven't played that bad, but haven't played well enough to win, but I think today the boys definitely deserved to win and really happy to see him get rewarded," Rensing said. "Our staff, Joe (Ahearn), T.J. (Kolba) and Nick (Barry), did an awesome job preparing our boys for this game. I'm just so happy for everyone involved in the program, and we look forward to enjoying this long bus ride home. We'll enjoy it and then get ready for an Ohio State team on Wednesday."
Michigan State will return home for a contest against Ohio State on Wednesday, Mar. 3. Stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com for more game information.
Damon Rensing | Men's Soccer Press Conference | Oct. 6, 2025
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Damon Rensing | Men's Soccer Press Conference | Sep. 29 2025
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