Spartan Men's Soccer Travels to No. 15 UCLA Friday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer continues its road trip, taking on No. 15 UCLA on Friday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) at Wallis Anneberg Stadium. This is the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and the Bruins.

MSU holds a 2-4-2 overall and 1-1-0 mark in league play after a 2-1 loss at Penn State on Sept. 20. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout scored for the second-straight game.

Nick Koop will be on the call for B1G+.

FINDING HIS GROOVE
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout leads the team in scoring with three goals and one assist for seven points. He is also tied for the team lead in shots on goal with eight with senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan. Sophomore forward Richie Ludwig, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan and freshman forward Mohamed Saad have also found the back of the net this season.

LOOKING AT THE BRUINS
After defeating Westmont 5-1 on Sept. 24, UCLA improved to 4-2-3. The Bruins are 1-1-1 in their first season in the Big Ten. They have a win over Northwestern and a loss to Wisconsin. UCLA also tied Michigan 3-3 at home.

Edrey Caceres and Nikolai Rojel lead the Bruins in scoring with six points each. They both have netted three goals this season. Sveinn Hauksson is third in scoring with two goals and one assist for five points. Sam Joseph has played six games in goal, while Wyatt Nelson has played three.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and the Bruins.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for eighth in the Big Ten in goals scored with three. Wisconsin's Dean Boltz is first with eight. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly is tied for second with Indiana's JT Harms and Penn State's Andrew Cooke for most saves with 24.

FRESHMAN FRENZY
Freshman defender Brandon Munson has made the most of his brief time as a Spartan. He has played in all eight games, starting seven. 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 eight games, starting four. He has scored one goal this season against Oregon State.

PACKING THE STANDS
Michigan State is 10th in the nation in attendance this season, averaging 1,808 fans per game this season. That stands third in the Big Ten behind Indiana (3,177) which is fourth and Maryland (2,214), which is fifth.

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

BIG TIME B1G
Five teams in the Big Ten are ranked in either the United Soccer Coaches Poll or the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. In the USC poll, Ohio State is ranked No. 4, while Wisconsin is No. 8, Maryland is No. 19 and Michigan is No. 25. In the Top Drawer Poll, Wisconsin is No. 8, while Ohio State (No. 10), UCLA (No. 15), Maryland (No. 18) and Michigan (No. 18) are all ranked.

BIG TEN OPENER
MSU opened Big Ten action against new Big Ten member Washington on Sept. 13. The Spartans are 7-1-2 in their last 10 Big Ten openers. Last season, the Spartans tied Rutgers on the road 1-1 in the league opener. In 2022, MSU tied No. 16 Indiana to open league play. In 2021, MSU tied Wisconsin 1-1 in Madison.

Prior to the last three seasons, Michigan State had begun B1G action against RU for five-straight seasons, going 4-1-0 during that span.

RULE CHANGES THIS SEASON
This season the clock will stop on substitutions with 15 minutes left if the game is tied or the winning team makes a sub.
Substitutions can be made during any stoppage of time. Another change is to allow teams six moments to make substitutions in a game. Current substitution exceptions for goalkeepers, injury caused by an opposing player who was cautioned or ejected, bleeding injury, blood on the uniform, concussion evaluation and a permanent medical condition will not count as a moment as long as no other substitutions are made at the same time by that team. If a coach has used all of their moments and there is an injury not covered by the current exceptions listed previously, the team will play short. For postseason overtime games, any unused moments will carry over and one additional moment for all of overtime will be awarded.

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 men's soccer team 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.

The Big Ten preseason poll was also released Tuesday, as voted on by the 11 conference coaches. This is first season the league has expanded to 11 teams with the addition of UCLA and Washington. MSU was voted to pick fifth, while Indiana was once again picked to win the league. Penn State was voted second, while newcomer UCLA was picked third.
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. Stout was also named first-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore.

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. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last season, as well as capturing second-team All-North Region accolades.

UP NEXT
After a pair of road Big Ten games, the Spartans return home to take on Northwestern on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Josh Adam

Cristiano Bruletti

Zac Kelly

Sean Kerrigan

Richie Ludwig

Brandon Munson

Mohamed Saad

Jeremy Sharp

Jake Spadafora

Jonathan Stout