EAST LANSING- The Michigan State men’s soccer team has prevailed in back-to-back contests and three of their four upon the commencement of Big Ten play. However, the Spartans are headed to College Park to square off with No. 12/No. 7 Maryland, one of the country’s hottest units.
Since Big Ten play opened, the Spartans have allowed just two goals (both to Penn State) on the heels of sensational goalkeeping by redshirt junior Zac Kelly. Last week, Kelly was one of three Spartans to garner Big Ten Player of the Week honors, joining freshman defender Brandon Munson and junior midfielder Jonathan Stout.
Stout was awarded Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, while Munson was crowned Big Ten Freshman of the Week and Kelly the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week following Michigan State’s 1-0 triumph over No. 15 UCLA last weekend.
Stout scored the lone goal to strengthen his team’s lead with four on the season, while Munson and Kelly were the key contributors in keeping the Bruins’ offense at bay.
Returning to East Lansing, MSU was buzzing on the heels of a 1-0 victory over Northwestern on Tuesday night. In the victory, junior midfielder Jack Guggemos netted his first goal of the season on a masterful assist from junior forward Jake Spadafora for MSU’s second consecutive clean sheet.
The sizzling Terrapins are sitting at 5-1-4, atop the Big Ten standings. They have not lost a game since Aug. 25 when they fell to No. 16 Georgetown.
The most impressive contest of Maryland’s season came in front of the home fans at Ludwig Field. The Terps completed a 3-0 upset over No. 8 Wisconsin back on Sept. 13 in which graduate forward Max Rogers tallied three of his five assists in 2024. The Sydney, Australia native leads Maryland with five points and is tied for second in the conference with that mark.
Over the last four games for Maryland, the offense has been spearheaded by junior forward Colin Griffith and sophomore midfielder Leon Koehl. The duo have combined for four of the last seven Terrapin goals and are tied for the team lead with four goals on the year.
Despite their offensive successes as of late, it is the defense that has spurred the Terps to success. Freshman goalie Laurin Mack allowed 0.82 goals on average and racked up a career-high five saves on a Sept. 20 victory over Indiana.
Mack’s 76.7% save rate is third among all Big Ten keepers, as the German sensation has a 5-1-3 record when in net. While Kelly has turned heads for MSU, Mack has done the same in his initial stint of action at the collegiate level.
MSU and Maryland will square off from Ludwig Field in College Park tonight at 7:30 p.m. on B1G+.
