EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men’s soccer will play its third-straight home game facing No. 19/5 Oregon State in a Labor Day battle on Monday at 1 p.m.
The Spartans improved to 1-1-1 this season after 1-0 win against Villanova on Aug. 30. Michigan State earned it first shutout of the season with redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly making three saves.
Matt Merrifield and Yousef Enayah are on the call for B1G+.
LOOKING AT THE BEAVERS
No. 19/5 Oregon State is also 1-1-1 this season. The Beavers started the season with a win at home against UC Irvine. OSU then took on a pair of Big Ten opponents with a loss to Washington and a tie at Michigan on Friday.
This season, the Beavers made the move from the PAC 12 to the West Coast Conference. OSU was picked to finish first in the league, ahead of Portland and San Diego. Ellis Spikner leads the team in scoring with five points off of two goals and one assist. Pere Belemonte is second with one goal. Both John Nicolson and Gandhi Cruz have seen time in goal for Oregon State. Nicolson started the game against Michigan on Aug. 30.
SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State and Oregon State have a brief history that the Spartans lead 2-0. Both meetings have taken place in East Lansing. The Spartans won the first matchup in 2007. In 2013, MSU edged the Beavers by the same 1-0 margin.
GETTING IN THE LINEUP
Through three games this season, MSU has used three different starting lineups. In the first three games, six Spartans have started all three games in Zac Kelly, Shion Soga, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, Will Eby and Josh Adam.
Adam, Kelly and Eby played every minute this season.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly is second in the Big Ten in saves with nine. Senior midfielder Shion Soga is fourth in the league in shots with eight.
RULE CHANGES THIS SEASON
This season the clock will stop on substitutions with 15 minutes left if the game is tied or the winning team makes a sub.
Substitutions can be made during any stoppage of time. Another change is to allow teams six moments to make substitutions in a game. Current substitution exceptions for goalkeepers, injury caused by an opposing player who was cautioned or ejected, bleeding injury, blood on the uniform, concussion evaluation and a…
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