Men’s soccer rounds out two-match road swing with Tuesday battle with No. 12 Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Completing a two-match road swing and taking a quick break from Horizon League action, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will clash with the Big Ten Conference's (B1G) Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday, September 26 at the DeMartin Soccer Complex at 7 p.m.

Picking up a thrilling home victory over the Michigan Wolverines on September 19, Oakland fell to the IUPUI Jaguars, 2-1, on September 23 and will bring a 2-5-1 (1-2 Horizon League) record into action in East Lansing.

Defeating the Indiana Hoosiers, 2-1, on September 22, Michigan State is 5-0-2 and 1-0-1 in the B1G, vaulting the Spartans up to No. 12 in the September 25 TopDrawerSoccer Top 25.

Tallying the match-winner in the 85th minute against Michigan, freshman forward/midfielder Donavan Phillip, who was recognized as the OU Prairie Farms Male Student-Athlete of the Week on September 25, leads the Golden Grizzlies with three assists and seven points this year while ranking second on the club with a pair of goals.

Standout graduate student and team captain Mikey Ketteman paces Oakland with three goals on the season and junior Luke Benford, freshman Andrew Darakdjian, redshirt senior Owen Smith and sophomore Malik Sylvester have also found the back of the net.

Graduate student Finn Jurak, the September 11 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week, has started five matches in goal for the Golden Grizzlies, posting a 2-2-1 record, one shutout and 19 saves.

MICHIGAN STATE RUNDOWN
In their 15th season under head coach Damon Rensing, the Spartans have exceeded expectations to this point in 2023, as Michigan State was tabbed to finish seventh in the B1G Preseason Poll.

Registering a team-high three goals, Irish junior Sean Kerrigan has six points for the Spartans and Northville freshman Will Eby has also scored multiple times.

Alongside Eby, Roseville sophomore defender Jeremy Sharp has played all 630 minutes thus far and Holt redshirt sophomore Zac Kelly has seen all the action in goal, working to an .867 save percentage, three shutouts and 26 saves.

Last squaring off on September 3, 2021, Oakland and Michigan State have met 21 times in their histories, with the Spartans owning the slight 11-10 edge.

B1G+ AND STATBROADCAST LINKS
Tuesday's tilt will air live on B1G+ ($) with Jack Stager and Lexi Alston on the call.

Below are the links to access the B1G+ ($) feed, as well as the StatBroadcast:

B1G+ ($) | StatBroadcast

FOLLOW OAKLAND
Student-athletes, parents, and fans can follow Oakland Men's Soccer on social media using @OaklandMSOC on Twitter and Instagram. The Gold Standard Name, Image, and Likeness Marketplace is available to bridge NIL opportunities for student-athletes and can be found here via Opendorse.

Additionally, the Oakland University Athletics app is available for download on the Apple and Google Play Stores.

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