Spartan Soccer Battles to 1-1 Draw At Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Michigan State men's soccer was dealt a heart-breaking draw Sunday afternoon at Rutgers in a 1-1 tie in MSU's Big Ten Conference opener at RU's Yurcak Field.

After the Spartans took the lead in the 67th minute on a header by freshman defender Will Eby, Rutgers netted the equalizer with one second left on the clock to level the score and end the match in a draw.

MSU remains unbeaten to open the season, now 4-0-2, the Spartans' best start since opening the 2018 season 8-0-2. Four of those opening six matches have come on the road, Michigan State's longest road stretch of the season.

Rutgers, the defending B1G Tournament champions, moved to 2-3-2. MSU leads the all-time series with RU, 7-1-2, as the Green & White are unbeaten in the last three match-ups with Rutgers.

"I don't think we were our sharpest today, but I did think the guys worked and did some things to get a re-start goal to put us up 1-0, and put us in a position to win," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "So, I think the positives are there even though we were in our sharpest. We went on the road and competed, and defended pretty well. We had a shutout until the last second of the game."

The Spartans have opened conference competition against the Scarlet Knights in six of the last eight seasons, now 4-1-1 during that span, as Michigan State is 6-1-4 in its last 11 Big Ten openers, marking Michigan State's third-straight draw to open league play.

Redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Zac Kelly made five saves on the day, in having his clean sheet streak halted at two, after 355 scoreless minutes, as he last goal allowed was in the fifth minute of the match at Villanova on Sept. 4.

The Spartans and Scarlet Knights played to a scoreless first-half, with Kelly and the MSU backline holding strong, denying RU on nine first-half shots, as the hosts had a 9-4 shots advantage in the opening 45 minutes. Kelly made four first-half saves.

Michigan State broke through in the 67th minute, as the visiting Spartans earned a free kick outside the 18-yard box. Sophomore midfielder Jeremy Sharp started the set piece, lofting a pass into the box, where sophomore midfielder Jack Guggemos headed the ball in front of the goal, and RU goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton got a hand on it, but only as far as Eby, and he jumped and headed the ball into the net to spark the Spartans' celebration.

MSU kept RU at bay for almost the remainder of the match, but Jackson Temple knocked in a bouncing ball just inside the post for the tying goal with just one tick on the clock.

"We're going to be a little disappointed because we're a second away from a win at three points," Rensing said. "But when you take the emotion out of it at the end of the day, any tie on the road is not terrible in the Big Ten. You have got to take care of your home games. And then you can get a tie or sneak a win in one of your four games on the road, you're in pretty good shape. So we did get a road tie. It's disappointing not to get the win, but, we'll be ready to defend DeMartin on one Friday against the good Indiana team."

The Spartans return the friendly confines of DeMartin Stadium to host Indiana on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m., capping off Michigan State's Homecoming 2023 activities on Friday.

Fans can contact the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information.

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Team Stats

Will Eby

Jack Guggemos

Jake Spadafora

Elijah Howe

Players Mentioned

Will Eby

Jack Guggemos

Zac Kelly

Jeremy Sharp