MSU nipped by Rutgers, 1-0, in final regular-season match.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's soccer was nipped by Rutgers, 1-0, on Spartan Senior Celebration Day, presented by HAP, on a Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium.
Rutgers scored in the 83rd minute to take the lead, but Michigan State had several late chances including a penalty kick with 43 seconds left that went wide to deny the draw and spoil the Spartans' Senior Day festivities.
After the match, Michigan State men's soccer celebrated Zack Babiak, Efosa Emovon, Levin Gerhardt, Sean Kerrigan and Shion Soga in their final regular-season matches at DeMartin Stadium in the Green & White.
"Sometimes it's like 'hey do you want to do it after a loss or a win', for me it puts it into perspective that it's not about one game," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "It's not about one loss, it's about their commitment to MSU soccer for four, three, two, one year, or whatever time they have had here. All these guys have made a great commitment to Michigan State Soccer, and I'm very grateful and very proud. It's a good sign, the show of having the parents and what they represent, and what our kids are about. We've got great young men here on our soccer program, and I'm very proud of not just how they are as players, but as students and as people of the community, so that puts some things into perspective for sure."
With the loss, MSU finishes regular-season play 5-7-4, including 4-4-2 in Big Ten Conference action. Rutgers moves to 6-9-2 overall and 3-6-1 in B1G play.
The Spartans await the rest of the league results for their B1G Tournament seeding.
"Well, I think you saw it today, it comes down to one or two plays," Rensing said. "I thought we did a lot of good things, and we just lacked conviction in the final third. We got in those areas enough, but just didn't do enough to really warrant to goal, and that's disappointing. Obviously going down a goal, I thought the guys responded well in the last eight minutes, but you don't wait until the last eight minutes to respond. I wish I was seeing that from the kickoff from the guys."
The first half ended in a stalwart stalemate at 0-0, with both teams generating chances, but were turned away by the respective defenses. RU had a slim, 4-3, edge on shots in the first half, with redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly making one save in the opening 45 minutes.
After halftime, both teams increased the offensive pressure, while both turned up the defensive intensity. MSU had its best scoring chance up to that point in the 80th minute when junior defender Jeremy Sharp had a shot roll just inches away from the post. Two minutes later, Rutgers broke the stalemate, taking advantage of a pass that spun in the wind, falling down to Francesco Di Ponzio, who tapped it past Kelly and into the net.
The Spartans didn't go quietly into the afternoon, generating several more scoring chances, but were turned away by the Scarlet Knight defense and RU keeper Ciarn Dalton. Junior forward Jonathan Stout had a late chance with a header, but it went just over the bar.
The Spartans' next action will be the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, with the quarterfinals starting on Thursday, Nov. 7 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, with full Tournament game information and pairings to be announced later.
Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.
