EAST LANSING, Mich. – Senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan’s two first-half goals helped the Michigan State men’s soccer team take down No. 25 Wisconsin 2-0 Friday night DeMartin Stadium on Salute to Service Day.
The Spartans have now won three of their last four games to even out their record to 5-5-2. In B1G games, MSU is 4-2. Wisconsin falls to 6-4-1 overall and 1-4-1 in league play.
This is the first time since the COVID-19 shortened 2021 Spring season that MSU has won at least four Big Ten games. It is the first since 2018 that the Spartans have won four conference games during a normally played season. In 2018, Michigan State went 4-2-2 in the Big Ten and eventually advanced to the College Cup.
“It feels great, two goals in one half, what do you know? And they were great goals,” MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. “Kerrigan had two great finishes, but you know the passes from Stout and Ludwig were also great, and it started when Spadafora started one, so it felt great. I think the combination of that and a shutout, we were really hard to break down as well. Our possession was very good at times, and so yeah very happy with the guys.”
Michigan State came out strong in the first half, maintaining possession for much of the period. In the seventh minute, Kerrigan scored his second goal of the season with a blast past UW goalkeeper Adam Braman. The play started up the right side when senior midfielder Levin Gerhardt found junior Jonathan Stout. The midfielder delivered a perfect ball to Kerrigan for his second assist of the season.
The Spartans weren’t done there adding a second goal in the 21st minute. It was the first time this season that MSU scored more than one goal in a game. From just inside the 18-yard box, Kerrigan delivered a nearly identical goal to his first. Once again coming up the right side, junior forward Jake Spadafora found sophomore forward Richie Ludwig for the assists.
“Obviously, I am happy with the goals, but I think they were great team goals at the end of the day,” Kerrigan said. “Stout and Richie (Ludwig) pulled the balls perfectly to me I just had to put the final touch on them. Obviously happy with the win.”
The half ended with MSU leading 2-0. The Spartans were efficient in the first half, scoring on two of their three shots.
In the second half, Wisconsin came out strong, looking to find the back of the net. Despite three shots in the first 12 minutes of the second half,…
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