LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A goal in the second minute was all the Spartan men’s soccer team needed to upset No. 15 UCLA, 1-0, Friday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.
Michigan State captured the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and the Bruins. It was also MSU’s first road victory of the year. With the win, the Spartans improved to 3-4-2 this season and 2-1-0 in B1G play, while UCLA falls to 4-3-3 this season and 1-2-1 in league action.
The Spartans wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with their quickest goal of the season. After a shot from freshman forward Mohamed Saad was saved, junior midfielder Jonathan Stout’s diving header was out of reach of UCLA goalkeeper Wyatt Nelson. Stout has now scored in three-straight games and has four goals overall this season.
In the 21st minute, Michigan State almost added another goal. Saad’s second shot of the game hit the cross bar to keep the score 1-0.
The first half ended with MSU leading 1-0. The Spartans led in shots in the first 45 minutes 5-4.
The Bruins came out hot in the second half with three shots in the first six minutes, as their offense started heating up. UCLA had 11 shots in the first 13 minutes of the second half, but the Michigan State defense stood strong.
The Spartans got their first shot of the second half in the 71st minute. Junior forward Jake Spadafora shot to the lower right corner was collected by Nelson.
For the game, UCLA out-shot Michigan State, 16-5, while the Bruins had nine corner kicks to the Spartans’ two. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly captured his third clean sheet of the season.
Michigan State finally returns home to take on Northwestern on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
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