Thursday, August 21
East Lansing, Mich.
5 PM
Michigan State University
1-0-0, 0-0-0
2
vs
0
UC Riverside
0-1-0, 0-0-0
1
2
F
UC Riverside
0
0
0
Michigan St.
1
1
2
Spartan Men’s Soccer Opens the Season with 2-0 Victory over UCR
8/21/2025 9:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
MSU has won three of its last four season openers.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Behind a pair of own goals, the Michigan State men's soccer team opened the 2025 season with a 2-0 win over UC Riverside Thursday evening at DeMartin Stadium on Welcome Back Students Night.
The Red Cedar Rowdies student section was in mid-season form for MSU in the season debut.
This was the fourth time in the last five years that the Spartans' have opened the season with a win. MSU improves to 1-0, while the Highlanders fall to 0-1.
"Two goals, a shutout, these first games we don't have a lot of scouting on the other opponent, so you're always a little nervous not knowing what you're facing, but I thought our guys dealt with all of the uncertainty of the game. We really just focused on us; it was a great day to get a W in front of a great local crowd," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "I just want to thank the student section. They were awesome, the Red Cedar Rowdies, what a fun group and they packed DeMartin; it was a lot of fun."
The Spartans were the aggressor from the beginning of the game with the first shot coming in the fifth minute off the foot of senior midfielder Jake Spadafora. His blast was corralled by UCR netminder Andrew Hermosillo, who was excellent all game. He made five saves in the first half alone.
Michigan State took the lead in the 34th minute on an own goal. The play was started by freshman forward Chim Okeke. The Highlander defenders attempt to clear sent the ball over the head of Hermosillo to put MSU up 1-0. Before the first half ended, freshman midfielder Luke Spadafora tested UCR's Hermosillo once again with a shot on goal.
In the 49th minute, the Spartans doubled their goal total with another own goal. Ermias Yohannes attempt to clear the ball went past the UC Riverside goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
From that point, Michigan State continued to apply pressure with senior forward Jack Guggemos hitting the post twice. The Spartans were unable to find the third goal.
For the game, MSU out-shot UCR 12-7 and had eight corner kicks to UC Riverside's three. Senior goalkeeper Zac Kelly picked up the shutout, making two saves.
"I think for us, our back line, we're all about seeing no goals," Kelly said. "When we scored the first one, the message at halftime was we don't give up another goal, we win the game, and for us that was all we needed to hear and we found a way to do it, so it's good."
Michigan State will now travel to No. 7 Pitt on Monday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.
The Red Cedar Rowdies student section was in mid-season form for MSU in the season debut.
This was the fourth time in the last five years that the Spartans' have opened the season with a win. MSU improves to 1-0, while the Highlanders fall to 0-1.
"Two goals, a shutout, these first games we don't have a lot of scouting on the other opponent, so you're always a little nervous not knowing what you're facing, but I thought our guys dealt with all of the uncertainty of the game. We really just focused on us; it was a great day to get a W in front of a great local crowd," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "I just want to thank the student section. They were awesome, the Red Cedar Rowdies, what a fun group and they packed DeMartin; it was a lot of fun."
The Spartans were the aggressor from the beginning of the game with the first shot coming in the fifth minute off the foot of senior midfielder Jake Spadafora. His blast was corralled by UCR netminder Andrew Hermosillo, who was excellent all game. He made five saves in the first half alone.
Michigan State took the lead in the 34th minute on an own goal. The play was started by freshman forward Chim Okeke. The Highlander defenders attempt to clear sent the ball over the head of Hermosillo to put MSU up 1-0. Before the first half ended, freshman midfielder Luke Spadafora tested UCR's Hermosillo once again with a shot on goal.
In the 49th minute, the Spartans doubled their goal total with another own goal. Ermias Yohannes attempt to clear the ball went past the UC Riverside goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
From that point, Michigan State continued to apply pressure with senior forward Jack Guggemos hitting the post twice. The Spartans were unable to find the third goal.
For the game, MSU out-shot UCR 12-7 and had eight corner kicks to UC Riverside's three. Senior goalkeeper Zac Kelly picked up the shutout, making two saves.
"I think for us, our back line, we're all about seeing no goals," Kelly said. "When we scored the first one, the message at halftime was we don't give up another goal, we win the game, and for us that was all we needed to hear and we found a way to do it, so it's good."
Michigan State will now travel to No. 7 Pitt on Monday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
UCR
MSU
Goals
0
2
Shots
7
12
Shots on Goal
2
6
Saves
6
2
Corners
3
8
Fouls
10
9
Scoring Plays
0
GOAL by MSU TEAM.
33:40
0
GOAL by MSU TEAM.
49:00
Game Leaders
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's SoccerM
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