Five Spartans Honored In Senior Day Loss
Looking to avenge the women’s team, who fell in a 2-1 overtime thriller to Rutgers in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, Michigan State had another battle with the Rutgers. On senior day, the 5-6-4 MSU men’s soccer team hosted Rutgers in their regular season finale.
In MSU’s previous outing, they tied No. 1 Ohio State 2-2 behind a three-point night from senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan. Still, they would be unable to replicate the offensive spark on Sunday afternoon.
Following the game, the Spartans would celebrate their five seniors; senior midfielder Shion Soga, senior forward Levin Gerhardt, Kerrigan, senior forward Zack Babiak, and senior forward Efosa Emovon.
“All these guys have made a great commitment to MSU soccer, and I’m very grateful and very proud (of them),” Spartan head coach Damon Rensing said. “It’s a good sign, the show of having the parents and what they represent, and what our kids are about. We’ve got great young men here in our soccer program, and I’m very proud of not just how they are as players, but as students and as people of the community, so that puts some things into perspective for sure.”
In a physical Big Ten atmosphere, both teams aspired to control the tempo, but both teams could not capitalize on the early opportunities to get on the board. The defense stood strong for both Rutgers and MSU, with the conference foes taking a scoreless stalemate into the break.
MSU would out-shoot Rutgers 18-11 in the afternoon. Behind a 15-shot second frame which saw six different Spartans register six or more shots.
In what would likely be their final game at DeMartin Stadium, Soga and Kerrigan accrued two shots apiece for the stagnant MSU offense.
“Rutgers played a good defensive game; they got numbers behind the ball so it was a little hard sailing, but Shion and Sean can affect the final third,” Rutgers head coach Damon Rensing said. “They got into a couple of spots we would like to get them more, but we’ll get ready for the Big Ten tournament.”
On the heels of a missed opportunity for MSU’s junior defender Jeremy Sharp, the 0-0 gridlock would not last much longer. In the 82nd minute, sophomore midfielder Francesco Di Ponzio played hero ball, finding the back of the net for the first time this season to give Rutgers the lead.
Searching for an equalizer, the Spartans would continue to bombard the Rutgers defense with shots, including late shots from junior midfielder Jonathan Stout and freshman forward Mohamed Saad that MSU could not capitalize on.
In the final minute of action, Di Ponzio committed a costly handball penalty despite his heroics mere minutes earlier. Sophomore midfielder Colin Arce was allowed to equalize on a penalty kick, but his shot sailed wide left.
Despite the late scare, Rutgers held on, as MSU fell to Rutgers, 1-0. The loss marked Rutgers’ second-ever victory over MSU and their first over the Spartans since the COVID-shortened 2021 season.
“Well, I think you saw it today, it comes down to one or two plays,” Rensing said. “I thought we did a lot of good things, and we just lacked conviction in the final third. We got in those areas enough, but just didn’t do enough to warrant a goal, and that’s disappointing.”
The Spartans went scoreless for the fifth game this season, and Rensing kept it blunt about the team’s prospects in the looming Big Ten tournament.
“The ball’s gotta start hitting the back of the net,” Rensing said. “Our defending is very good, we’ve just gotta start popping the ball in the net and I think if we do that we can go (far in the Big Ten tournament).”
On the heels of the disheartening loss, MSU’ss record dropped to 5-7-4 and 4-4-2 in Big Ten play.
On tap for Michigan State is the Big Ten tournament in Chicago, where fifth-seeded Michigan State will take on fourth-seeded Washington on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. ET.
