Short-handed Spartans Fall to Maryland in The Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals

Sunday, November 8

Bloomington, Ind.

1 PM

Michigan State University

10-5-3, 5-3-2

No. 5 seed Maryland

12-4-1, 5-4-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Maryland	1	1	2
Michigan St.	0	1	1

11/8/2026 5:26:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score UMD 2, MSU 1 BTT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- No 4-seeded Michigan State fell to No.-5 seeded Maryland in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, 2-1, Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.

The Terps will move on to face on No. 1-seeded Indiana in the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The Spartans played the bulk of the game with 10 men after a red card was issued in the 38th minute. MSU also battled through injuries throughout the game. This was the second meeting between the teams this season as Michigan State earned the victory in College Park on Oct. 9.

The Spartans fall to 10-5-3 overall this season, having lost three-straight games. Maryland improves to 12-4-1 with the win. This was the second time that MSU played in Bloomington this week after suffering a 3-2 loss in the regular season finale to top-seeded Indiana on Wednesday.

Ludwig took the first shot of the game for the Spartans that went just wide left of the goal in the eighth minute.

In the 33rd minute, Maryland broke the scoreless tie. Albi Ndrenika scored to the bottom left corner off of passes from Lilian Fichelle and Marco Wright to put the Terps up 1-0.

In the 39th minute, junior defender Brandon Munson was sent off with a red card and the Spartans played the remainder of the game with 10 players. Much of the rest of the first half was spent on the Terp offensive end of the field, but the half ended with the Spartans trailing 1-0.

Maryland doubled its lead in the 51st minute when Marco Wright scored his first goal of the season, to the center of the goal, getting past MSU goalkeeper Jake Grekowicz to make it a 2-0 game.

The Spartans continued to fight, cutting the Maryland advantage to 2-1 in the 88th minute. Senior midfielder Leo Conneh started the play by getting the ball to senior defender Aidan Phelan up the left side. Phelan's pass perfectly found the head of junior forward Mohamed Saad for his first goal of the season.

Michigan State would not be able to find the equalizer, as Maryland held on for the 2-1 win.

The Terrapins out-shot the Spartans 12-9, while MSU had the edge in corner kicks 5-4. Grekowicz was solid in goal to keep the game within reach with three saves.

The Spartans now await the NCAA Selection Show that will be on Monday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m.