Tuesday, September 23
East Lansing, Mich.
6 PM
Michigan State University
4-4-0, 1-2-0
1
vs
0
No. 3 Indiana
6-2-1, 1-2-0
1
2
F
Indiana
0
0
0
Michigan St.
0
1
1
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Spartan Men’s Soccer Upsets No. 3 Hoosiers, 1-0, Tuesday Night
9/23/2025 9:47:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Soudan’s goal and Kelly’s clean sheet boost MSU to highest-ranked win since 2014.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's soccer upset No. 3 Indiana, 1-0, Tuesday night at DeMartin Stadium for the Spartans' highest-ranked upset win since 2014. The Spartans were boosted by a second-half goal from freshman midfielder Peter Soudan and outstanding defense spearheaded by senior goalkeeper Zac Kelly.
Tuesday was MSU's highest-ranked upset win since beating No. 2 Indiana, 3-2, on Nov. 5, 2014 on the road in Bloomington.
Unlike that meeting with five goals, Tuesday's tangle between the Spartans and Hoosiers was decided by a single goal, coming in the 49th minute from Soudan, and the resolute MSU defense denied IU's offense, with Kelly making some key saves late in the match to deny the Hoosiers' frantic finish.
"We just competed. They deserved it, I'm happy for them," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said afterwards. "We've been playing some really good soccer over these last few games, and sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way. I thought we were going to get something out of Washington and certainly Ohio State, but I thought the guys really buckled down. We talked about defending inside the box, and I thought our defenders and Zac Kelly were brilliant, and it really helped us get our highest ranked win since 2014, and we just knocked off the No. 3 team in the country."
Tuesday's Victory for MSU moves the Spartans to 4-4-0 overall and 1-2-0 in B1G action. Indiana is now 6-2-1 overall and 1-2-0 in conference competition, being dealt their first shutout of the season.
Behind a season-high five saves, Kelly registered his third clean sheet of the season. Kelly now has 15 career shutouts, moving up to tie for No. 8 on MSU's career shutouts list, tying with T.J. Lieckfelt (1997-00), Paul Zimmerman (1983-85) and Joe Baum (1967-68).
"That's not by accident, that's because they put themselves in the right spot," Kelly said about the defense combining to post the clean sheet. "It takes effort and grit, that's something we've been missing the past few games, leaking goals, but I'm really proud of this group and how we've responded. It's amazing."
Tuesday's 1-0 win was MSU's first shutout over IU since Oct. 18, 2009 in a 1-0 (2OT) blanking in Bloomington, which was the third of three-straight Spartan shutout wins in the series, including 1-0 in the 2008 Big Ten Tournament in Madison, Wisconsin, and starting with a 2-0 win on Oct. 12, 2008 in East Lansing, which was MSU's last home shutout over IU.
"It was a great win tonight," Rensing said. "I'm just proud of them, and to have any Michigan State soccer alum who watches could feel this and understand this, and this is what we're about, we're going to go score some goals, but we need to defend. We're going to win games more 1-0 and 2-1, in this conference you don't win a lot of 4-3 games. To be honest, I thought we were a little unfortunate to not go up 2-0, we came out and had some moments in there, but just really happy with how we put our bodies on the line, closed up shop and got the shutout."
It also marked the Spartans' second-straight home win over the Hoosiers and are unbeaten in three of the last four meetings, with two wins and a tie in 2022, closing IU's all-time series lead to 44-18-7.
After a scoreless, physical first half, saw a combined 17 fouls called with only four shots taken.
The Spartans broke the scoreless match in the 49th minute, when junior forward Richie Ludwig bent a corner kick into the box, where IU goalkeeper Holden Brown punched out, but Soudan corralled the ball just inside the 18-yard box and fired a sliding shot over Brown and that kissed off the far post and into the net for the Spartans' 1-0 lead.
"What a feeling," Soudan said about his goal. "The ball just bounced out, took a touch and saw the pressure coming quickly so I just got to it as quickly as I could, sent it to the top corner and from that moment I kind of blanked out. What a feeling."
It was Soudan's second-straight outing with a goal, and he now has netted three goals on the season, all coming in the last four matches.
"Special things for sure," Soudan said about Tuesday's big win giving the Spartans momentum for the upcoming ledger. "But we've just got to take this one game at a time, Michigan next Friday, another tough test. I truly think there are no limits to what we can do, and this team, we're so tightly-knit, so focused, a really good footy team as well. We stayed focused on that goal, take each game one at a time, and we can do some special things here."
In the 54th minute, the Spartans threatened again, as freshman forward Chim Okeke's breakaway shot was deflected by an IU defender out of bounds, and the Hoosiers cleared the ensuing corner kick away.
Kelly came up with some huge saves in the 71st and 72nd minutes, first coming on a near point-blank shot by IU's Palmer Ault that Kelly calmly deflected away, and senior defender Jake Spadafora bicycle-kicked it away. Moments later, Hoosier Charlie Heuer fired a long-range shot that Kelly smothered.
"It feels really good. I mean, at the end of the day that's my job: bailing out all the guys in front of me, but they also did it for me multiple times," Kelly said about the saves.
Kelly had three other saves in the final eight minutes to preserve the clean sheet.
"It feels really good," Kelly said about the win. "I think for us it was building up all week, just trying to prove to ourselves what we're worth, and how well we can play and respond to adversity. I think we've dug ourselves quite a hole, but tonight showed what this crew is about and what we're capable of, and I think for us moving forward this is the standard. This is what we're capable of, this is what we can do, now it's time to rinse and repeat, clean up a few things and get ready for Michigan on Friday."
The Spartans will prepare for the Battle for the Big Bear against Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
The Battle for the Big Bear will be broadcast on BTN.
Tuesday was MSU's highest-ranked upset win since beating No. 2 Indiana, 3-2, on Nov. 5, 2014 on the road in Bloomington.
Unlike that meeting with five goals, Tuesday's tangle between the Spartans and Hoosiers was decided by a single goal, coming in the 49th minute from Soudan, and the resolute MSU defense denied IU's offense, with Kelly making some key saves late in the match to deny the Hoosiers' frantic finish.
"We just competed. They deserved it, I'm happy for them," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said afterwards. "We've been playing some really good soccer over these last few games, and sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way. I thought we were going to get something out of Washington and certainly Ohio State, but I thought the guys really buckled down. We talked about defending inside the box, and I thought our defenders and Zac Kelly were brilliant, and it really helped us get our highest ranked win since 2014, and we just knocked off the No. 3 team in the country."
Tuesday's Victory for MSU moves the Spartans to 4-4-0 overall and 1-2-0 in B1G action. Indiana is now 6-2-1 overall and 1-2-0 in conference competition, being dealt their first shutout of the season.
Behind a season-high five saves, Kelly registered his third clean sheet of the season. Kelly now has 15 career shutouts, moving up to tie for No. 8 on MSU's career shutouts list, tying with T.J. Lieckfelt (1997-00), Paul Zimmerman (1983-85) and Joe Baum (1967-68).
"That's not by accident, that's because they put themselves in the right spot," Kelly said about the defense combining to post the clean sheet. "It takes effort and grit, that's something we've been missing the past few games, leaking goals, but I'm really proud of this group and how we've responded. It's amazing."
Tuesday's 1-0 win was MSU's first shutout over IU since Oct. 18, 2009 in a 1-0 (2OT) blanking in Bloomington, which was the third of three-straight Spartan shutout wins in the series, including 1-0 in the 2008 Big Ten Tournament in Madison, Wisconsin, and starting with a 2-0 win on Oct. 12, 2008 in East Lansing, which was MSU's last home shutout over IU.
"It was a great win tonight," Rensing said. "I'm just proud of them, and to have any Michigan State soccer alum who watches could feel this and understand this, and this is what we're about, we're going to go score some goals, but we need to defend. We're going to win games more 1-0 and 2-1, in this conference you don't win a lot of 4-3 games. To be honest, I thought we were a little unfortunate to not go up 2-0, we came out and had some moments in there, but just really happy with how we put our bodies on the line, closed up shop and got the shutout."
It also marked the Spartans' second-straight home win over the Hoosiers and are unbeaten in three of the last four meetings, with two wins and a tie in 2022, closing IU's all-time series lead to 44-18-7.
After a scoreless, physical first half, saw a combined 17 fouls called with only four shots taken.
The Spartans broke the scoreless match in the 49th minute, when junior forward Richie Ludwig bent a corner kick into the box, where IU goalkeeper Holden Brown punched out, but Soudan corralled the ball just inside the 18-yard box and fired a sliding shot over Brown and that kissed off the far post and into the net for the Spartans' 1-0 lead.
"What a feeling," Soudan said about his goal. "The ball just bounced out, took a touch and saw the pressure coming quickly so I just got to it as quickly as I could, sent it to the top corner and from that moment I kind of blanked out. What a feeling."
It was Soudan's second-straight outing with a goal, and he now has netted three goals on the season, all coming in the last four matches.
"Special things for sure," Soudan said about Tuesday's big win giving the Spartans momentum for the upcoming ledger. "But we've just got to take this one game at a time, Michigan next Friday, another tough test. I truly think there are no limits to what we can do, and this team, we're so tightly-knit, so focused, a really good footy team as well. We stayed focused on that goal, take each game one at a time, and we can do some special things here."
In the 54th minute, the Spartans threatened again, as freshman forward Chim Okeke's breakaway shot was deflected by an IU defender out of bounds, and the Hoosiers cleared the ensuing corner kick away.
Kelly came up with some huge saves in the 71st and 72nd minutes, first coming on a near point-blank shot by IU's Palmer Ault that Kelly calmly deflected away, and senior defender Jake Spadafora bicycle-kicked it away. Moments later, Hoosier Charlie Heuer fired a long-range shot that Kelly smothered.
"It feels really good. I mean, at the end of the day that's my job: bailing out all the guys in front of me, but they also did it for me multiple times," Kelly said about the saves.
Kelly had three other saves in the final eight minutes to preserve the clean sheet.
"It feels really good," Kelly said about the win. "I think for us it was building up all week, just trying to prove to ourselves what we're worth, and how well we can play and respond to adversity. I think we've dug ourselves quite a hole, but tonight showed what this crew is about and what we're capable of, and I think for us moving forward this is the standard. This is what we're capable of, this is what we can do, now it's time to rinse and repeat, clean up a few things and get ready for Michigan on Friday."
The Spartans will prepare for the Battle for the Big Bear against Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
The Battle for the Big Bear will be broadcast on BTN.
Team Stats
IU
MSU
Goals
0
1
Shots
8
8
Shots on Goal
5
4
Saves
3
5
Corners
8
4
Fouls
11
14
Scoring Plays
Peter Soudan (3)
GOAL by MSU Soudan, Peter.
48:20
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's SoccerM
/ Men's Soccer
F
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