EAST LANSING – Michigan State men’s soccer looks to defend DeMartin Stadium on Friday against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Spartans set their sights on their third straight Big 10 victory, after back-to-back wins against two top five teams, a 2-1 win against ranked No. 5 Michigan and a 1-0 win over No. 3 Indiana, respectively. This Penn State squad hopes to spoil the Spartans hot streak and achieve their first conference win of the season.
Spartans’ soccer has struggled against the Nittany Lions over the past few years. They have failed to claim victory against them since 2021. The Spartans have been given the potential to end an almost half decade long losing streak in front of their home crowd. The Nittany Lions can pull Michigan State under .500 in the conference and protect their winning streak against the Green and White.
If Spartans’ head coach Damon Rensing looks to foil the plans of the Penn State side they will have to get on the board first. In every single game so far this season when Michigan State scores first they hold the lead and when they let up first, they have struggled to rally a comeback. The Spartans’ offense will have to rely on big contributions from standout freshman midfielder Peter Soudan, as the tied leading goal scorer for Michigan State. They will also need redshirt senior goalie Zac Kelly to continue to be a wall between the twigs, as it is imperative the Spartans do not let up the first goal.
The key for Penn State in this match up will be to score first and hang onto the lead. Every loss Penn State has suffered this season has started with a blown one to nothing lead. In their last meeting Penn State sniped a late game goal to cement their comeback and emerge victorious, and that just might be the kind of late game play head coach Jeff Cook will need to cook up in order to put a one in the conference wins column. Junior midfielder Caden Grabfelder will need to step up and continue to emerge as a leader for the Nittany Lions if they hope to upset the Spartans at home; and if Penn State manages to score first, the burden will rest on redshirt freshman goalkeeper Jonathan Evans to not let anything get past him and into the net.
Kickoff is set for 5 P.M. on Friday, October 3rd live from East Lansing and stream live on Big Ten Plus.
