No. 11 Spartan Men’s Soccer Wallops No. 13 Wisconsin, 3-0, On Alumni Night

Friday, September 25

East Lansing, Mich.

7 PM

Michigan State University

7-1-1, 3-0-0

No. 13 Wisconsin

5-2-2, 0-2-2

Team	1	2	Final F
Wisconsin	0	0	0
Michigan St.	2	1	3

No. 11 Spartan Men’s Soccer Wallops No. 13 Wisconsin, 3-0, On Alumni Night

9/25/2026 10:58:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score MSU 3, Wisconsin 0 MSU Statistics

Ludwig’s brace boosts MSU to victory as Spartans celebrate 70 years of Michigan State men’s soccer.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- A Richie Ludwig brace boosted No. 11 Michigan State men's soccer to a 3-0 win over No. 13 Wisconsin Friday night at a spirited DeMartin Stadium for a celebratory MSU Men's Soccer Alumni Night.

The current edition of Spartan men's soccer lit up the scoreboard on a night when MSU was celebrating 70 years of Spartan Men's Soccer on Alumni Night with roughly 50 alumni in attendance and were recognized at halftime, ranging from members of the 1967 National Championship team to recent alums.

"I thought it was a complete performance against a very good Wisconsin team. Obviously, a little bit fortunate with the red card. They were tired, and we moved the ball," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "Sometimes that leads to those types of tackles, and I thought our guys took advantage of it. I think the second goal right before halftime was a backbreaker. Credit to Dom (Dono). We went out and got that third goal. We wanted to get that third one and put the game away. We also are just so thrilled to have a strong performance in front of our amazing alumni."

All three of MSU's goals came in less than a seven-minute span overlapping halftime, taking advantage of a Wisconsin red card in the 35th minute. Ludwig entered Friday's match leading the Spartans and ranking third in the nation in assists with seven helpers, but netted his first two goals of the season Friday night to propel the Victory for MSU.

With the win, the Spartans moved to 3-0-0 in Big Ten Conference action, the best start to league play in program history. MSU is now 7-1-1 overall, after posting its third-straight clean sheet, all coming in B1G play, as the Spartan defense has yet to concede a goal in a league match. Overall, it was MSU's fifth shutout of the season, all coming in the last seven matches.

Wisconsin slides to 5-2-2 overall and 0-2-2 in B1G action.

Friday night was the Spartans' fourth win over the Badgers in the last five meetings in the all-time match-up, moving to 10-8-3 in games played in East Lansing. It was the third shutout in a row in the series, and the fourth in the last five, as Wisconsin won last year's match-up, 2-0, while MSU won, 2-0, in 2024. The Spartans posted a 3-1 win in 2023, after a 1-0 Victory for MSU in 2022. Friday's 3-0 win was the largest margin of victory in the series since March of 2021 in a 4-1 Spartan win.

After the first third of Friday night's match was end-to-end scoreless action, a red card on Wisconsin in the 35th minute gave the Spartans the player advantage on the field, and momentum shifted to the Green & White.

Ludwig, a senior forward, capitalized on the momentum and netted the first of his two goals on the night in the 42nd minute as the opening goal in a two-minute scoring barrage, with nifty passing for the assists from junior defender Brandon Munson and freshman midfielder Dom Dono. The second part of the scoring frenzy was Dono netting his first collegiate goal just a minute-and-a-half later, sending MSU to halftime with a 2-0 lead, with sophomore midfielder Peter Soudan distributing the assist.

"We've obviously had some big wins here and there, and to finally put a complete 90 minutes of just straight hunger and motivation together with this group is amazing. I just really wanted to put this group and this program back to where it's been for the past years, and finally starting that trend is really nice," Ludwig said.

Before the alumni had fully settled back in their seats, Ludwig netted his brace in the 49th minute. Munson started the counterattack with a long pass from the top MSU's box and dished a long pass to senior midfielder Leo Conneh, who threaded a beautiful cross-field pass through the needle of the Badger defense to Ludwig, and the Spartan senior smashed it past Wisconsin keeper Judewellin Michel for the third goal of the night.

Michel came into Friday's clash with the Spartans having only allowed five goals in eight games. In fact, Wisconsin's defense hadn't allowed more than one goal in a match all season, including tying No. 2 Indiana, 1-1, last time out on Sept. 22, and No. 3 Ohio State, 1-1, on Sept. 11, while only losing to No. 8 Maryland, 1-0, on Sept. 18 in between.

Spartan junior goalkeeper Jake Grekowicz made one save, now with six saves and three shutouts in B1G play, as part of 14 saves on the season.

"What a great night. The attack was there. The defense was there," Grekowicz said. "It's just so awesome to play with the guys. I love each and every one of them. When we all click, it's like a family. We're a team. And there's not many people that can stop us when we're at our best."

The Badgers had a chance to cut into the Spartan lead in the 67th minute, when Wisconsin was awarded a penalty kick following a foul on MSU in the box. After the foul and PK were confirmed by VAR, the shot sailed high and wide, soaring past Grekowicz and into the trees beyond the goal at DeMartin Field.

Michigan State was able to rotate in some reserves the rest of the night, as 21 of 27 Spartans on the roster saw action Friday night.

Ludwig came into Friday ranking third in the NCAA in assists, but tacked on two goals Friday night

MSU is on the road for its next two matches, playing at UCLA on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, and at Maryland on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Spartans return home to DeMartin Field on Tuesday, Oct. 13 for the Battle for the Big Bear Trophy with in-state foe Michigan in a 7 p.m. match

Michigan State Soccer Ticket Membership are available for $100 for adults & $50 for youth/senior. Season tickets are on sale now online through the Spartan Ticket Office here or by calling 517-355-1610.

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.