Tuesday, September 27
East Lansing, Mich.
6 PM
Michigan State University
3-4-2, 1-0-1
2
vs
0
Michigan
3-5-2, 1-2-0
1
2
F
Michigan
0
0
0
Michigan St.
1
1
2
Team Stats
MICH
MSU
Goals
0
2
Shots
17
11
Shots on Goal
7
2
Saves
0
7
Corners
6
1
Fouls
13
17
Scoring Plays
Greyson Mercer (3)
Assisted By: Nick Stone , Jack Zugay
Header to lower right corner
06:24
Jonathan Stout (1)
Collected ball off the crossbar, into lower right corner
81:53
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
mid
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
def
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Men's SoccerF
/ Men's SoccerD
/ Men's SoccerF
/ Men's Soccer
Spartans Win Big Bear Trophy With 2-0 Victory For MSU Over Michigan
9/27/2022 10:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Mercer and Stout net goals; Finnerty posts first clean sheet of season
EAST LANSING, Mich. -Â Michigan State men's soccer used an early goal from Greyson Mercer and a late goal from Jonathan Stout to combine with a clean sheet from Owen Finnerty for a 2-0 Victory for MSU over Michigan for the Big Bear Trophy Tuesday night at a rainy DeMartin Stadium.
An over-capacity packed house and a national televised audience watching on Big Ten Network witnessed a hotly-contested match that saw junior forward Mercer net a goal in the seventh minute, and freshman forward Stout's first career goal coming in the 82nd minute. With the win, MSU is unbeaten in its last two matches and four of its last five contests in improving to 3-4-2 overall and leveling its B1G record at 1-1-1. Michigan had its two-match unbeaten streak halted and is 3-5-2 overall and 1-2-0 in conference competition.
Spartan senior keeper Owen Finnerty registered his first clean sheet of the season. Finnerty is a grad transfer from Michigan who was playing his former team for the first time, and remained unbeaten in Big Bear Trophy games, as Tuesday's win was the Spartans' first in the series since 2017. MSU leads the overall series with U-M, 34-12-7, including 17-3-4 in East Lansing.Â
"It feels great," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "I'm really just happy for the players, that looked like the Spartan team I've coached for years, a really good defensive performance from front to back. Everything was very solid, just a great Spartan team victory."
The great team victory was boosted by a season-high attendance of 3,047 vociferous and spirited fans, chanting and cheering throughout the match.
"The Red Cedar Rowdies and that student section was unreal," Rensing said. "There had to be 1,000 students there, we had over 3,000 fans, the crowds here have been electric. I tell you what, when you have a 2-0 lead with eight minutes left, and you have tired legs, that pushes you to victory. I don't think those guys were going to lose in front of that crowd."
Not only did the Spartans not lose, they didn't yield a goal for the first time this season, as Finnerty and the defense were solid and resolute the entire night in posting their first clean sheet of the season.
"Honestly, until the whistle blew, I was dialed in," Finnerty said. "It really didn't sink in until after the whistle. It feels great. We've been working for this all year. To get my first clean sheet of the year, that was amazing as well, especially in the game that it was. The guys played great, and we worked hard for 90 minutes. We were up 2-0 with a minute left, and guys were still putting their bodies on the line. You couldn't have asked for more from those guys. The clean sheet was just the cherry on top."
The Spartans needed just seven minutes to jump out to an early 1-0 lead, as senior defender Nick Stone lofted a gem of a pass into the Michigan box and Mercer headed it home past sprawling Michigan keeper Ethan Wood. Mercer has now scored goals in back-to-back games and has a team-leading three goals on the season for his team-leading eighth point.
MSU continued pressure and withstood Michigan's pressure on the other end, as the visiting Wolverines had a couple near chances that were turned away by the Spartan defense, keeping the score 1-0 into halftime.Â
Michigan State's defense withstood a 9-3 differential in shots, but of the Wolverines' nine shots, only two were on goal, with Finnerty making two saves in the first 45 minutes.Â
The second half was back-and-forth with both defense's holding strong, turning away offensive chances.
In the 82nd minute, Stout made a nifty spin to get a shot away, and he fired a shot through the defense but it hit the left post. However, the Spartan freshman got a friendly bounce back as the ball went straight out and he tracked the rebound down and curled a right-footed bender inside the right post and into the side-netting to spark the insurance goal celebration.
Michigan State was out-shot by Michigan, 17-11, and the Wolverines had a 7-2 shots on goal advantage, but Finnerty made seven saves. UM also had a 6-1 corners advantage, and the physical battle saw 29 fouls whistled and seven yellow cards issued.Â
MSU continues its two-game homestand at DeMartin Stadium by hosting Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. on Alumni Day.
Â
An over-capacity packed house and a national televised audience watching on Big Ten Network witnessed a hotly-contested match that saw junior forward Mercer net a goal in the seventh minute, and freshman forward Stout's first career goal coming in the 82nd minute. With the win, MSU is unbeaten in its last two matches and four of its last five contests in improving to 3-4-2 overall and leveling its B1G record at 1-1-1. Michigan had its two-match unbeaten streak halted and is 3-5-2 overall and 1-2-0 in conference competition.
Spartan senior keeper Owen Finnerty registered his first clean sheet of the season. Finnerty is a grad transfer from Michigan who was playing his former team for the first time, and remained unbeaten in Big Bear Trophy games, as Tuesday's win was the Spartans' first in the series since 2017. MSU leads the overall series with U-M, 34-12-7, including 17-3-4 in East Lansing.Â
"It feels great," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "I'm really just happy for the players, that looked like the Spartan team I've coached for years, a really good defensive performance from front to back. Everything was very solid, just a great Spartan team victory."
The great team victory was boosted by a season-high attendance of 3,047 vociferous and spirited fans, chanting and cheering throughout the match.
"The Red Cedar Rowdies and that student section was unreal," Rensing said. "There had to be 1,000 students there, we had over 3,000 fans, the crowds here have been electric. I tell you what, when you have a 2-0 lead with eight minutes left, and you have tired legs, that pushes you to victory. I don't think those guys were going to lose in front of that crowd."
Not only did the Spartans not lose, they didn't yield a goal for the first time this season, as Finnerty and the defense were solid and resolute the entire night in posting their first clean sheet of the season.
"Honestly, until the whistle blew, I was dialed in," Finnerty said. "It really didn't sink in until after the whistle. It feels great. We've been working for this all year. To get my first clean sheet of the year, that was amazing as well, especially in the game that it was. The guys played great, and we worked hard for 90 minutes. We were up 2-0 with a minute left, and guys were still putting their bodies on the line. You couldn't have asked for more from those guys. The clean sheet was just the cherry on top."
The Spartans needed just seven minutes to jump out to an early 1-0 lead, as senior defender Nick Stone lofted a gem of a pass into the Michigan box and Mercer headed it home past sprawling Michigan keeper Ethan Wood. Mercer has now scored goals in back-to-back games and has a team-leading three goals on the season for his team-leading eighth point.
MSU continued pressure and withstood Michigan's pressure on the other end, as the visiting Wolverines had a couple near chances that were turned away by the Spartan defense, keeping the score 1-0 into halftime.Â
Michigan State's defense withstood a 9-3 differential in shots, but of the Wolverines' nine shots, only two were on goal, with Finnerty making two saves in the first 45 minutes.Â
The second half was back-and-forth with both defense's holding strong, turning away offensive chances.
In the 82nd minute, Stout made a nifty spin to get a shot away, and he fired a shot through the defense but it hit the left post. However, the Spartan freshman got a friendly bounce back as the ball went straight out and he tracked the rebound down and curled a right-footed bender inside the right post and into the side-netting to spark the insurance goal celebration.
Michigan State was out-shot by Michigan, 17-11, and the Wolverines had a 7-2 shots on goal advantage, but Finnerty made seven saves. UM also had a 6-1 corners advantage, and the physical battle saw 29 fouls whistled and seven yellow cards issued.Â
MSU continues its two-game homestand at DeMartin Stadium by hosting Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. on Alumni Day.
Â
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