Owen Finnerty Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State senior goalkeeper Owen Finnerty was named Big Ten Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Finnerty, who hails from Walled Lake, Michigan, earned the Spartans’ first Player of the Week honor of the season after MSU went 2-0-0 last week. The goalkeeper registered a pair of clean sheets to lead Michigan State to wins over Michigan and Wisconsin.

In the Battle of the Big Bear Trophy on Sept. 27, Finnerty, a Michigan transfer, earned MSU’s first shutout of the season with a 2-0 win over the Wolverines. He collected seven saves in the victory. Against Wisconsin on Oct. 2, the Spartans earned a 1-0 win with the senior capturing five saves. He helped MSU to back-to-back shutout wins for the first time since the 2017 season. For the week, he made 12 saves allowing no goals in 90 minutes.

This was his Finnerty’s first career Big Ten honor.

Michigan State’s last Big Defensive Player of the Week honor was Will Perkins, who captured Defensive Player of the Week accolades on April 6, 2021. The last Offensive Player of the Week honor went to Farai Mutatu on Sept. 21, 2021.

MSU travels to Penn State on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.