Michigan State Faces No. 25 Wisconsin on Salute to Service Day

Friday, October 11

East Lansing, Mich.

7 PM

Michigan State University

#25 Wisconsin

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Michigan State Faces No. 25 Wisconsin on Salute to Service Day

10/10/2024 12:26:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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The Spartans will face their fifth ranked team this season.

*** With hockey and volleyball beginning at 6 p.m., parking will be limited. Fans should look to park at the Kellogg Center or Ramp 7 ***

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State returns home to the friendly confines of DeMartin Stadium on Friday Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. Friday is Salute to Service Day at DeMartin. All veterans and first responders will receive complimentary admission with presentation of a valid ID.

MSU holds a 4-5-2 overall and 3-2-0 mark in league play after a 2-1 loss against No. 12/7 Maryland last week. Wisconsin stands 5-3-1 overall this season and 1-3-1 in league contests.

Charles Schmidgall and Brad LaPlante are on the call for B1G+.

FINDING HIS GROOVE
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout leads the team in scoring with four goals and one assist for nine points. He has now scored in three of the Spartans' last five games. Stout is also tied for first on the team in shots on goal with nine with senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan. Sophomore forward Richie Ludwig, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan, junior midfielder Jack Guggemos, sophomore defender Will Eby and freshman forward Mohamed Saad have also found the back of the net this season.

LOOKING AT THE BADGERS
Wisconsin holds a 6-3-1 overall record and stands 1-3-1 in the Big Ten. With four points, the Badgers are tied for ninth in the league standings.

Dean Boltz leads the Big Ten and the team in scoring with nine goals and four assists for 22 points. Trip Fleming is second on the team in scoring with five points and three assists for 13 points. Freshman Matisse Hébert has played all 10 games in goal this season. He has only allowed 10 goals for a 1.06 GAA.

SERIES HISTORY
Wisconsin holds the overall series led against Michigan State 24-16-7. In East Lansing, the series is tied 8-8-3. In Madison, the Badgers are on top 13-7-3. Wisconsin holds the edge on neutral ground, 3-1-1. The last time Michigan State won in East Lansing was in 2022 when the Spartans came out on top 1-0. MSU has gone 4-0-1 in the last five meetings with the Badgers.

Last year in Madison, the No. 23 Spartans used a flurry of first-half goals to earn a 3-1 win on Oct. 6. Jeremy Sharp, Sean Kerrigan and Jonathan Stout found the back of the net for MSU.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State men's soccer was overtaken late by No. 12/7 Maryland, 2-1, Saturday night at UMD's Ludwig Field in a tightly contested, hard-fought match with the top of the table in the Big Ten Conference standings on the line. Sophomore defender Will Eby netted the Spartans' goal, heading in a perfectly lofted and placed corner kick by junior defender Jeremy Sharp in the 59th minute. The Terrapins tied it in the 73rd minute and scored the go-ahead goal 10 minutes later.

MISSING A PIECE
After receiving a red card in the late stages of the game against Maryland on Oct. 5, the Spartans will be without senior midfielder Shion Soga for the game against Wisconsin. Soga had played in all 11 games, starting eight.

PUTTING IN THE TIME
Of all the field players, redshirt-junior defender Josh Adam leads the team in minutes player with 990. He is one of four Spartans to top the 900 minute mark along with goalkeeper Zac Kelly (971), defender Jeremy Sharp (948) and defender Jeremy Munson (901).

IN CONFERENCE ACTION
The Spartans may not be lighting up the scoreboard in Big Ten play, but they have allowed only four goals in five games. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly has played all 450 minutes in league play for a 0.80 GAA. He has made 18 saves in B1G games. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for fifth in the league in goals scored in B1G games with three.

FRESHMAN FRENZY
Freshman defender Brandon Munson has made the most of his brief time as a Spartan. He has played in all 11 games, starting 10. Against Washington on Sept. 13, his bicycle kick back save prevented the Huskies from scoring and was the No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenter. Fellow freshman forward Mohamed Saad has also played in all 11 games, starting five. He has scored one goal this season against Oregon State.

PACKING THE STANDS
Michigan State is 15th in the nation in attendance this season, averaging 1,808 fans per game this season. That stands fourth in the Big Ten behind Indiana (2,965), which is fourth, Maryland (2,373), which is fifth and Washington, which is ninth (1,936).

GETTING IN THE LINEUP
Through 11 games this season, MSU has used seven different starting lineups. In the first 11 games, four Spartans have started every in Zac Kelly, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, and Josh Adam.

PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST
Michigan State's game against No. 25 Wisconsin will be the Spartans fifth game against a ranked team. MSU is 1-2-1 against ranked teams this season with a win against No. 15 UCLA. MSU has losses against No. 12/7 Maryland and No. 5 Oregon State. To open the season, the Spartans tied No. 25 SIUE, 1-1.

GETTING ON THE SCOREBOARD
The Spartan offense is still trying to get going with only nine goals in 11 games. MSU has not scored more than one goal in a game this season.

HERMANN TROPHY
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout was named to the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. Stout is the first Spartan to make the list since Giuseppe Barone and Patrick Nielsen were named to the Hermann Watch List in 2019.

PRESEASON HONORS
Michigan State had three players named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List, as announced by the conference office. Juniors Jeremy Sharp, Jake Spadafora and Jonathan Stout were all honored by the league.

Sharp, who hails from Roseville, Michigan, earned a spot on the B1G Player to Watch list for the first time in his career. Last season, the defender earned second-team All-Big Ten honors, playing in all 15 games. Sharp ended the season with third-team All-North Region honors.

Stout, a native of Wyoming, Michigan, was second on the team in scoring last season with 10 points on five goals. The midfielder was named to the preseason list last season as well.

Spadafora, a forward who hails from Northville, Michigan, was tied for third on the team in scoring with three goals and one assist for seven points.

UP NEXT
After taking on Wisconsin at home, MSU will travel to Indiana on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.

THE STAFF
MSU head coach Damon Rensing enters his 16th season at the helm of the Spartans. Assistant coaches T.J. Kolba is in his sixth season, while Nick Barry enters his fifth year at MSU. Reid Friedrichs, who enters his second year with Michigan State. Friedrichs has plenty of experience in the Green and White as a player, including Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 1996.