MSU Men's Soccer Hosts Detroit Mercy on Monday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer returns home for a Labor Day battle against Detroit Mercy on Monday, Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium. It is Youth and Family Day and the entire men's soccer team will be available for a meet and greet following the game.

The Spartans are 1-1 this season after a 3-2 loss to No. 3 Pitt on Monday on the road. The Titans come to town with a 2-0-1 record.

Jack Vohwinkle and Kyle Keegan will be on the call for the B1G Student U.

LOOKING AT THE TITANS
Detroit Mercy is off to a fast start this season with a 2-0-1 record. The Titans have yet to concede a goal this season. On Aug. 28, UDM defeated Butler in Indianapolis, 2-0.

The Titans started the season with 0-0 tie against No. 12 Dayton on the road. Detroit Mercy also defeated Mercyhurst 2-0 at home. Colin Monroe has started all three games in goal with 16 saves and a 0.00 goals against average. Drew Pierson leads the team in scoring with two goals for four points.

Last season, the Titans went 3-10-4 and are only one win away from tying last year's win total.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State leads the series history with Detroit Mercy 8-5-1. The two teams have not met since 2012 in East Lansing when the Spartans came out on top 1-0. Michigan State is 4-3-1 at home and 4-2-0 in Detroit. Three times the games have gone to overtime with MSU going 2-0-1 in those contests.

SEASON OPENERS
During Coach Rensing's tenure, the Spartans are 12-2-3 in season openers. Michigan State is 8-2-2 at home to start the season and 4-0-1 on the road.

HEADING TOWARD A MILESTONE
With 149 career wins, MSU head coach Damon Rensing is nearing the 150 win-plateau. He is the second winningest coach in Spartan history. Hall of Famer Joe Baum is the all-time leader with 320 career wins. Rensing holds a career record of 149-113-49 in 17 seasons in the Green and White.

FRESH FACES
In the first two games, two newcomers have started both games. Junior transfer Miles Merritt and freshman Luke Spadafora. Freshmen Chim Okeke, JEB Knox and Kayden Hudson have played in both games off the bench. Freshman Peter Soudan has played in both games and started the game against No. 7 Pitt on Aug. 25.

DID YOU KNOW?
Junior transfer midfielder Miles Merritt is tied for seventh in points scored in the Big Ten early on in the Big Ten with three. He had one goal and an assist against Pitt on Monday.

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 on Tuesday.

Perennial favorites Indiana was picked first, while Maryland and Ohio State were voted second and third, respectively. Michigan State was picked to finish to finish seventh.

Kelly, who hails from Holt, Michigan, is the reigning Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year. He is also one of the Spartans' three captains along with senior Josh Adam and junior Will Eby. Last season, he was the first Michigan State athlete to earn B1G Goalkeeper of the Year honors since Jimmy Hague in 2017. Kelly started all 17 games for MSU last season, earning seven shutouts.

Merritt, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was named a United Soccer Coaches Midfielder to Watch. The midfielder is in his first season with the Spartans after playing two years at Incarnate Word. He played in 16 games in 2024, scoring one goal.

Munson, a sophomore who hails from Spring Hill, Florida, was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team last season. The defender played in 14 games before sustaining a season-ending injury that kept him out of the final two games of the season.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Ahead of the start of practice on Aug. 5, Michigan State head men's soccer coach Damon Rensing announced the three captains for the 2025 season in Zac Kelly, Josh Adam and Will Eby.

PRESEASON PLAY
The Spartans played two exhibition games in preparation for the 2025 season. On Aug. 10, Michigan State defeated Butler at DeMartin Stadium, 2-0. On Aug. 15, the Spartans came away with a 2-1 win at UIC.

NEWCOMERS
Michigan State welcomes 12 newcomers to the 2025 team. Eleven of the 12 newcomers played in the Spartans' two exhibitions to start the season. Andrew Darakdjian, a transfer from Oakland, is out for the season after tearing his ACL in the Spring. Against Butler, transfer Miles Merritt had an assist, while Kayden Hudson scored MSU's second goal. In the road win at UIC, freshman Chim Okeke scored both Spartan goals.

GUESS WHO'S BACK?
Despite losing its top two scorers in Jonathan Stout and Sean Kerrigan, Michigan State four of its top seven scorers. Junior forward Richie Ludwig was third in scoring with two points and two assists for six points.

Senior goalkeeper Zac Kelly returns in net for the Spartans. Kelly is the reigning Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year. Last season, he had a 1.14 GAA with six shutouts.

For the game, MSU out-shot UCR 12-7 and had eight corner kicks to UC Riverside's three. Senior goalkeeper Zac Kelly picked up the shutout, making two saves.

LAST TIME OUT
In the first meeting since 1967, Michigan State men's soccer had its comeback thwarted by No 4 Pitt, 3-2, Monday at Ambrose Urbanic Field in Pittsburgh.

Despite falling down 3-0 early on, the Spartans kept fighting until the final whistle. With the loss, Michigan State falls to 1-1 this season, while the Panthers improve to 2-0. MSU is now 6-1 all-time against Pitt.

UP NEXT
After facing Detroit Mercy, Michigan State will take to the road to take on Bowling Green on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.

THE STAFF
MSU head coach Damon Rensing enters his 17th season at the helm of the Spartans. Assistant coach T.J. Kolba is in his seventh season, while Nick Barry enters his sixth year at MSU. Reid Friedrichs, who enters his third 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.

This year there is a new face on the Spartan bench in former Spartan Zach Carroll, who was the No. 38 overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by the New York Red Bulls. He earned first-team All-Big honors in 2015.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON
MSU junior midfielder Colin Arce is following in his father's footsteps. Steve Arce played at Michigan State from 1998-01 when current head coach Damon Rensing was an assistant coach.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Adam

Colin Arce

Andrew Darakdjian

Will Eby

Kayden Hudson

Zac Kelly

Sean Kerrigan

JEB Knox

Richie Ludwig

Miles Merritt

Peter Soudan

Luke Spadafora

Jonathan Stout