EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men’s soccer used an early goal from Greyson Mercer and a late goal from Jonathan Stout to combine with a clean sheet from Owen Finnerty for a 2-0 Victory for MSU over Michigan for the Big Bear Trophy Tuesday night at a rainy DeMartin Stadium.
An over-capacity packed house and a national televised audience watching on Big Ten Network witnessed a hotly-contested match that saw junior forward Mercer net a goal in the seventh minute, and freshman forward Stout’s first career goal coming in the 82nd minute. With the win, MSU is unbeaten in its last two matches and four of its last five contests in improving to 3-4-2 overall and leveling its B1G record at 1-1-1. Michigan had its two-match unbeaten streak halted and is 3-5-2 overall and 1-2-0 in conference competition.
Spartan senior keeper Owen Finnerty registered his first clean sheet of the season. Finnerty is a grad transfer from Michigan who was playing his former team for the first time, and remained unbeaten in Big Bear Trophy games, as Tuesday’s win was the Spartans’ first in the series since 2017. MSU leads the overall series with U-M, 34-12-7, including 17-3-4 in East Lansing.
“It feels great,” MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. “I’m really just happy for the players, that looked like the Spartan team I’ve coached for years, a really good defensive performance from front to back. Everything was very solid, just a great Spartan team victory.”
The great team victory was boosted by a season-high attendance of 3,047 vociferous and spirited fans, chanting and cheering throughout the match.
“The Red Cedar Rowdies and that student section was unreal,” Rensing said. “There had to be 1,000 students there, we had over 3,000 fans, the crowds here have been electric. I tell you what, when you have a 2-0 lead with eight minutes left, and you have tired legs, that pushes you to victory. I don’t think those guys were going to lose in front of that crowd.”
Not only did the Spartans not lose, they didn’t yield a goal for the first time this season, as Finnerty and the defense were solid and resolute the entire night in posting their first clean sheet of the season.
“Honestly, until the whistle blew, I was dialed in,” Finnerty said. “It really didn’t sink in until after the whistle. It feels great. We’ve been working for this all year. To get my first clean sheet of the year, that was amazing as well, especially in the game that it…
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