Spartan Men's Soccer Travels to Northwestern Saturday

Saturday, October 11

Evanston, Ill.

7:30 PM ET

Michigan State University

Northwestern

10/10/2025 11:04:00 AM | Men's Soccer

MSU Notes Northwestern Notes Live Stats Watch Live

MSU begins a two-game road trip.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer hits the road for the first of two-straight road games, traveling to Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.

The Spartans look to get back on track after 2-1 loss to Penn State on Oct. 3. MSU is 5-5-0 overall and 2-3-0 in Big Ten games. Northwestern is 6-4-1 overall and 1-3-0 in league contests. Last time out, NU defeated Evansville, 1-0 at home on Oct. 7.

Matt Placzek will be on the call for B1G Student U.

LOOKING AT THE WILDCATS
Northwestern holds a 6-4-1 overall record and stands 1-3-0 in Big Ten play. Northwestern's lone B1G win came at home against Rutgers, 2-1 on Sept. 19. The Wildcats also have losses to Maryland, Washington and UCLA. Both The Terrapins and the Huskies are both ranked this week.

Joe Suchecki leads the Wildcats in scoring with 10 points off of four goals and two assists. Peter Riesz is second with eight points off of four goals.

Rafael Ponce De Léon has started 10 of 11 games in goal for the Wildcats. Josue Hangi started in the game against Maryland, allowing four goals. Ponce De Léon has allowed 10 goals in 10 games for a 1.00 GAA.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State leads the overall series lead with Northwestern, 35-10-15. In Evanston, the Spartans have the slight edge, 11-7-3. In East Lansing, MSU is on top in the series 18-3-2. On neutral territory, the Spartans are a perfect 6-0-0. MSU has won three of the last five, including the last two. In last year's 1-0 win, Jack Guggemos scored his first goal of the season with the game winner.

PACKING THE STANDS
Through the first six home games, the Spartans stand seventh in the nation in average attendance, averaging 2,592 fans. Indiana stands second (3,647), while Maryland is fourth (2,823). Michigan State rose from 11th to seventh after 4,861 fans packed DeMartin Stadium on Oct. 3 against Penn State.

LOOKING AT THE STANDINGS
Washington stands in first place in the Big Ten standings with 12 points with Maryland standing second with eight. Three teams are tied for third with seven points in Michigan, Rutgers, and UCLA. The Spartans are tied for sixth with six points with Indiana and UCLA.

MORE THAN ROWDY
Against Penn State on Oct. 3, Michigan State set a new men's record for attendance with 4,861 fans at DeMartin Stadium. The previous record was 4,678 against Maryland on Sept. 22, 2017. The overall record at DeMartin is held the MSU women with 5,145 fans at DeMartin Stadium against Michigan on Oct. 5, 2024.

GETTING TOP MARKS
Two of the three top scorers for Michigan State are freshmen with the third being a newcomer. With the game-winning goal against No. 3 Indiana on Sept. 23, freshman Peter Soudan is tied for the team lead with three goals and two assists for eight points. Transfer Miles Merritt is tied for the team lead in points with eight points on three goals and two assists. Freshman Luke Spadafora and junior midfielder Richie Ludwig are third in scoring with six points. Freshman Chim Okeke, who has served as a spark plug off the bench, scored his first collegiate goal against Ohio State on Sept. 19.

WHAT A WEEK!
Two weeks ago was one for the record books for the Spartans. Michigan State started the week with a 1-0 win over then-No. 3 Indiana on Sept. 23. It was MSU's first win over a top-5 team since defeating Indiana on No. 5, 2014 in Bloomington. The Spartans then defeated then No. 5 Michigan to retain the Big Bear on Sept. 26, 2-1, in Ann Arbor. It was the first time in Michigan State history that the team had defeated two top-5 teams in the same week.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
Indiana's Palmer Ault is first in the Big Ten in goals scored with eight. He is also first in the league in points with 19 (8 goals, 3 assists). Freshman midfielder Peter Soudan and junior midfielder Miles Merritt are tied for 15th in points with eight off of three goals and two assists.

REACHING A MILESTONE
With a win against Detroit Mercy on Sept. 1, MSU head coach Damon Rensing reached the 150 win-plateau. He is the second winningest coach in Spartan history. Hall of Famer Joe Baum is the all-time leader with 320 career wins. Rensing holds a career record of 153-116-49 in 17 seasons in the Green and White.

GETTING IN THE STARTING XI
Six players have started all 10 games in Zac Kelly, Luke Spadafora, Richie Ludwig, Jack Guggemos, Colin Arce and Josh Adam. Peter Soudan, Will Eby and Miles Merritt have also started in nine games. Chim Okeke has has played in all 10 games, while fighting injuries Brandon Munson has started six games.

PUTTING IN THE MINUTES
Several Spartans are logging in the minutes on this season. Goalkeeper Zac Kelly has played all 900, while and defender Josh Adam is second in minutes with 873. Midfielders Richie Ludwig (835 minutes) and Colin Arce (837) are next in minutes played.

DID YOU KNOW?
With three shutouts so far this season, redshirt-senior goalkeeper Zac Kelly now has 15 career clean sheets. He is now tied for eighth in the MSU record books. He would be tied with T.J. Lieckfelt (1997-00), Joe Baum (1967-68) and Paul Zimmerman (1983-85).

UP NEXT
The Spartans remain on the road to take on Wisconsin on Friday, Oct.17 at 8 p.m. ET.

PRESEASON HONORS
Michigan State men's soccer team had three players named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List.

Kelly, who hails from Holt, Michigan, is the reigning Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year. Last season, he was the first Michigan State athlete to earn B1G Goalkeeper of the Year honors since Jimmy Hague in 2017. Kelly started all 17 games for MSU last season, earning seven shutouts.

Merritt, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was named a United Soccer Coaches Midfielder to Watch. The midfielder is in his first season with the Spartans after playing two years at Incarnate Word.

Munson, a sophomore who hails from Spring Hill, Florida, was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team last season.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Ahead of the start of practice on Aug. 5, Michigan State head men's soccer coach Damon Rensing announced the three captains for the 2025 season in Zac Kelly, Josh Adam and Will Eby.

LAST TIME OUT
Playing in front of over 4,000 fans on a warm Friday afternoon, the Michigan State men's soccer team fell Penn State, 2-1, at DeMartin Stadium in their annual Pink Game. The Spartans gathered donations for Spartan Strength Kits for those suffering from breast cancer.

The crowd of 4,861 fans was the most-ever to watch a Michigan State men's soccer game, passing the 4,678 fans at the Maryland game on Sept. 22, 2017. The overall DeMartin record was a women's game last season against Michigan where 5,145 fans packed DeMartin Stadium.

The Spartans scored the first goal of the day in the 39th minute. In a beautiful play that began with junior defender Aiden Phelan finding freshman midfielder Chim Okeke on the left side. Okeke chipped the ball to junior forward Richie Ludwig. The goal was the Ludwig's third of the season.

THE STAFF
MSU head coach Damon Rensing enters his 17th season at the helm of the Spartans. Assistant coach T.J. Kolba is in his seventh season, while Nick Barry enters his sixth year at MSU. Reid Friedrichs, who enters his third year with Michigan State. Friedrichs has plenty of experience in the Green and White as a player, including Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 1996.

This year there is a new face on the Spartan bench in former Spartan Zach Carroll, who was the No. 38 overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by the New York Red Bulls. He earned first-team All-Big honors in 2015.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON
MSU junior midfielder Colin Arce is following in his father's footsteps. Steve Arce played at Michigan State from 1998-01 when current head coach Damon Rensing was an assistant coach.

KELLY AND SOUDAN EARN LEAGUE HONORS
Michigan State men's soccer players Zac Kelly and Peter Soudan both captured Big Ten honors on Sept. 30.

Kelly, a native of Holt, Michigan, captured Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week honors for the first time this season. He also was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. He led the team to a pair of wins over top five teams for the first time in MSU history. Against No. 3 Indiana, he earned a clean sheet with a season-high five saves. In the Spartans' road win against No. 5 Michigan, he allowed only one goal in MSU's 2-1 win.

This is Kelly's second career Goalkeeper of the Week honor. His first honor came on Oct. 1, 2024.

Soudan is the third Spartan to earn B1G Freshman of the Week honors. The 2024 season was the first season that the award was given. Midfielder Brandon Munson was named Freshman of the Week on Oct. 1, 2024. Luke Spadafora also captured Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors on Sept. 2, 2025.

The midfielder, who hails from Western Springs, Illinois, scored the game-winning goal in MSU's 1-0 victory over Indiana on Sept. 23. He also drew the penalty that led to a penalty kick goal in the 2-1 victory at Michigan on Sept. 26. Soudan is tied for the team lead in points with three goals and two assists for eight points.

BIG TEN OPENER
MSU opened up Big Ten action against Washington on Sept. 12 with a 2-1 loss. This was the second-straight season that the two teams have met in the B1G opener. The Spartans are 7-2-3 in their last 12 Big Ten openers. Last season, MSU defeated UW, 1-0, in East Lansing. The Spartans tied Rutgers on the road 1-1 in the league opener in 2023. In 2022, MSU tied No. 16 Indiana to open league play. In 2021, MSU tied Wisconsin 1-1 in Madison.