This will come as no surprise, but we are all pretty confident that the Spartans can get to 3-0 this year. Check out the staff picks here:

QUICK STRIKES FOR THE WEEK AHEAD ...

• Michigan State has a split weekend of action, traveling to Louisville for a Friday game at Bellarmine before hosting Colgate on Sunday morning at Ralph Young Field.

• Live statistics and webstream links can be found for both games on the field hockey schedule page at MSUSpartans.com. Friday's game will stream on ESPN+, and Sunday will air on BTN+ .

• The Spartans earned a split in its second weekend of action, earning a 3-1 win over Vermont before a heartbreaker against Ohio on Sunday, 3-2 in double overtime.
&NBSP: &NBSP: &NBSP: &NBSP: &NBSP: Last Friday was a 3-1 victory over the Catamounts, which featured goals from Skylar Santucci, Jillian Bonczewski, and Carmen Pucheta along with a pair of assists from Emma O'Neill in the victory.
&NBSP: &NBSP: &NBSP: &NBSP: &NBSP: On Sunday, the Spartans suffered the OT heartbreak against Ohio, having two goals overturned by video review and a third waived off and fell 3-2 in double overtime. The Spartan goals were scored by Bianca Pizano and Ellie Rutherford. Lyra Gavino had six saves over the two games.

• Anna Krump (2-3-7) is the leading scorer for Bellarmine, which enters Friday's contest with a 2-2 record. The Knights have earned overtime wins over Saint Louis and Rider, and most recently dropped a 3-0 decision on the road at LIU. Devanny Boisvert is in her sixth season as the head coach, and has guided the Knights through their transition to a Division I program. This is the first season that Bellarmine would be eligible to compete in the NCAA Division I tournament.

• Colgate (0-3) will play at Central Michigan on Friday prior to the Sunday showdown at Michigan State. The Raiders were outscored 14-4 in their first three games, but lost on penalty strokes to Lock Haven in its most recent contest. April Cornell-DeAngelis is in her eighth season leading the Raiders, and her current team is led in scoring by Anna Lochhead (2-0-4).

• Both of MSU's losses this year have come in overtime. MSU was 0-4 in overtime games in 2023, with its last victory in extra time coming on Oct. 18, 2022 against Indiana.

• Three of MSU's four games this year have been one-goal affairs. MSU played six one-goal games a year ago.

• Pizano took over the team's scoring lead with her third goal of the season against Ohio (3-0-6). Pizano had a pair of goals last season as a freshman.

• Maddie Lawlor returned to the lineup after missing the entire 2023 season, and is MSU's second-leading point producer with a 2-1-5 scoring line. She set up classmate Ellie Rutherford's first goal of the season against Ohio.

• Bonczewski has a pair of goals this season after one in her career over her first three varsity campaigns (37 games).

• O'Neill had a pair of helpers in last Friday's victory over Vermont and has a team-best three assists on the season. She has appeared in 68 games for MSU over her career, and three of her seven career assists have come in 2024.

• Pucheta scored her first collegiate goal in the win over Vermont. She is one of three freshmen to start all four games for MSU, along with Mora Cavazza, Lilian Knorr, and Caro Schäfer.

• Gavino has started all four MSU games and owns a 2.12 GAA and .591 save percentage. The sophomore started three games a year ago.

• The Spartans open Big Ten play next week with a road tilt at Ohio State on Friday (Sept. 20). MSU then hosts Michigan on Monday, Sept. 23 in a 3 pm game that will air live on Big Ten Network.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

This is the fourth meeting between the Spartans and the Huskies​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer returns home for Alumni Night to take on Washington on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. MSU looks to snap a three-game winless streak.

The Spartans stand 1-3-2 so far this season after losing to Oakland 3-0 on the road on Monday. Michigan State is looking for its first win of September.

ON THE STAT SHEET
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout leads the team in scoring with one goal and one assist for three points. Senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan, sophomore forward Richie Ludwig and freshman forward Mohamed Saad have also found the back of the net this season.

BIG TEN OPENER
MSU opens Big Ten action new Big Ten member Washington on Friday, Sept. 13. The Spartans are 6-1-3 in their last 10 Big Ten openers. Last season, the Spartans tied Rutgers on the road 1-1 in the league opener. In 2022, MSU tied No. 16 Indiana to open league play. In 2021, MSU tied Wisconsin 1-1 in Madison.

Prior to the last three seasons, Michigan State had begun B1G action against RU for five-straight seasons, going 4-1-0 during that span.

LOOKING AT THE HUSKIES
With a big win over No. 11 Seattle on Sept. 9, Washington improved to 3-1-2 this season. UW is 2-0-1 at home and 1-1-1 away from home. The teams have two common opponents in Oregon State and Air Force. The Spartans fell to OSU and tied Air Force, while Washington defeated both teams.

Charlie Kosakoff leads the team in scoring with six points off of two goals and two assists. Joe Dale is second with five points off of one goal and three assists. Chris Meyers leads the team with four assists. Jadon Bowton has started all six games in goal, allowing seven goals for a 1.17 GAA.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State is looking for its first win against Washington as the Huskies lead the series 2-0-1. The last time the teams met was in Seattle in 2022 when the Huskies came out on top 4-1. In 2019 in East Lansing, UW edged MSU, 1-0. In the 2014 NCAA Tournament in East Lansing, the teams tied 2-2 with MSU advancing on penalty kicks, 4-3.

GETTING IN THE LINEUP
Through six games this season, MSU has used five different starting lineups. In the first six games, five Spartans have started all six games in Zac Kelly, Shion Soga, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, and Josh Adam.

BIG TIME B1G
Six teams in the Big Ten are ranked in either the United Soccer Coaches Poll or the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. In the USC poll, Wisconsin is ranked No. 8, while Northwstern is No. 14 and Michigan is No. 22. In the Top Drawer Poll, Wisconsin is No. 7, while UCLA (No. 12), Indiana (No. 20) and Ohio State (No. 25) are all ranked.

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 permanent medical condition will not count as a moment as long as no other substitutions are made at the same time by that team. If a coach has used all of their moments and there is an injury not covered by the current exceptions listed previously, the team will play short. For postseason overtime games, any unused moments will carry over and one additional moment for all of overtime will be awarded.

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UP NEXT
After the Big Ten opener against Washington, MSU hits the road to take on Penn State on Sept. 20 and No. 12 UCLA on Sept. 27.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational
Date: Friday, Sept. 13
Time: 9 a.m. (women's 6k); 9:40 a.m. (men's 8k)
Location: Forest Akers East Golf Course (East Lansing, Mich.)
Live Results

EAST LANSING, MICH. - Michigan State's men's and women's Cross Country teams are prepared to host the 43rd-annual Spartan Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance at the Forest Akers East Golf Course Friday morning.

Due to projected warm weather in the forecast the schedule has been moved up an hour. The Forest Akers East Course will open for spectators at 8 a.m. with the women's collegiate 6K starting at 9 a.m., the men's 8K at 9:40 a.m., followed by the high school races starting at 10:10 a.m.

With many names on both sides of the program making their debuts two weeks ago in the 2024 opener, more are expected to emerge among the top finishers at the second meet of the year.

At the Jeff Drenth Memorial, Fatima Giron was MSU's top finisher, ending third with a time 18:13.6 in the 5k race. Running unattached, freshman Madison Osterberg was third with a time of 17:54.2.

On the men's side, the Spartans finished 1-2 with Kyle Eberhard finishing first with a time 14:58.8 in the 5k race. Michael Hegarty was second just behind Eberhard, running a 14:54.9. Four Spartan freshmen finished 6-9 running unattached to show the depth of the Spartan squad.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.