MSU Men’s Soccer Shuts Down Seattle, 2-1, Sunday

Sunday, August 23

East Lansing, Mich.

2 PM

Michigan State University

2-0-0, 0-0-0

Seattle

0-2-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Seattle U	0	1	1
Michigan St.	1	1	2

Miles Merritt in action against Seattle U

8/23/2026 5:53:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score MSU 2, SU 1 MSU Statistics

Michigan State moves to 2-0 after winning weekend matches.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's soccer doubled-up Seattle, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium, to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Sunday was the first-ever meeting on the pitch between MSU and Seattle U, marking the Spartans' second match in a row for a first time, after the inaugural meeting with UAlbany on Thursday in a 6-2 Victory for MSU.

The Spartans move to 2-0 on the season for the second time in the last four seasons and the fifth time in the last 10 years.

"It felt great. There's a coach in this department that talks about winning weekends and that's what we talked about," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "We won on Thursday night, and we wanted to win the weekend. It's early in the season, so it's hard for guys legs to put together two 90-minute matches and running, so we used our depth, and I thought it was a high character win for us today."

The Redhawks slid to 0-2 on the year, after opening the season and their Midwest weekend tour with a 4-0 loss at No. 4 St. Louis on Thursday night.

For the second-straight game, MSU scored its opening goal of the day on a penalty kick, as senior midfielder Miles Merritt netted the goal from the penalty spot in the 26th minute. That gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead that they took into halftime.

After yielding an own goal in the 47th minute that tied things up at 1-all, the Green & White netted the go-ahead coach in the 61st minute after some slick passing by junior defender Brandon Munson and senior midfielder Leo Conneh, then a nice pass to senior forward Andrew Darakdjian, who slotted the ball through the Seattle U goalkeeper's legs and into the net for the 2-1 lead.

Darakdjian transferred to MSU from Oakland in the spring of 2025, before missing all of last season with an injury, and made his Spartan debut on Sunday and netted the game-winning goal for his first goal in the Green & White.

"I tore my ACL in April 2025, and then coming back, I was doing recovery all throughout the rest of 2025," Darakdjian said. "Then starting in 2026, I've been back in with the group, doing summer league, and then coming back full swing in the preseason."

After seeing action in the preseason, Darakdjian drew his first start as a Spartan on Sunday and made the most of it with the game-winning goal.

"It's amazing. It's such a blessing to be back. I love this group, and they've been by my side every step of the way," Darakdjian said. "First game back, and happy I could get the game-winning goal and for this team. One thing we talked about is winning the weekend and going 2-0, starting the season off right. Our identity coming out was we're here to win. We're not here to mess around."

Darakdjian and the Spartans didn't mess around, containing Seattle scoring the unforgettable game-winner to cap a memorable comeback day for him.

"Andrew had an ACL (injury), so he hasn't played in a game in probably a year and a half. So, to see him score that goal was great. Man, what a goal, what a setup, great little combination. It started with Grek (Jake Grekowicz), the goalkeeper playing it out. We reversed the ball, and then Brandon (Munson) and Leo (Conneh) had a great combination, and he (Andrew Darakdjian) does what he does, gets in the low post and scores. So, I'm very proud of him."

The Spartan defense kept the Redhawks in check the rest of the match and the MSU backline limited SU without an official shot on goal for the match, as the Redhawks' lone tally on the scoreboad came on an own goal. MSU ended with a 14-5 advantage in shots, including 8-0 in shots on goal.

Michigan State's defense has now held the opposition without an official goal in its last game-and-a-half, after posting a cleansheet in the second half of Thursday's win, pulling away from a 2-2 halftime tie.

Sophomore midfielder Luke Spadafora was taken down in the box to earn the Spartans' PK, and Merritt netted his second goal of the season, both coming from the penalty spot. Merritt netted Michigan State's first goal of the season and Thursday's match in the 6-2 Victory for MSU over UAlbany.

The Spartans continued pressuring the Redhawks' defense the rest of the first half, getting several chances, including senior midfielder Richie Ludwig's shot hitting the post in the 32nd minute. MSU had a 1-0 lead at intermission, holding a 10-3 advantage in shots, and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks.

Michigan State ramped up its ball movement after yielding the equalizer, and the Spartan offense was rewarded with the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute when Munson and Conneh connected with some nifty passing along the sideline. Conneh drove toward the goal, slotting a pass through the Redhawk defense to Darakdjian, who tapped it through the legs of SU keeper Aleksander Kapciak and into the net for what held up as the Spartans' game-winning goal.

The Spartans continue their five-match homestand to open the 2026 ledger by hosting SIUE on Thursday, Aug. 27 in a 7:30 p.m. match at DeMartin Stadium.

SIUE head coach Cale Wassermann is in his eighth season leading the Cougars after four years at Michigan State on Rensing's staff as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach from 2014-18. During Wasserman's time with the Spartans, he helped MSU reach the 2018 NCAA College Cup

Thursday's MSU-SIUE men's match is the second half of a doubleheader with the Spartan women's soccer team, who faces Eastern Michigan in a 5 p.m. start time.

To purchase tickets for any Michigan State athletics event, visit the Spartan Ticket Office online at MSUSpartans.com; fans can also call the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610, or email tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information, or fans can visit the MSU Ticket Office in person, located in 1855 Place.