Men's soccer ready for in-state rivalry game

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The MSU men’s soccer team hopes to bring the Big Bear Trophy back to East Lansing after a year away in Ann Arbor.

The Spartans (5-7-4 overall, 1-2-2 Big Ten) will take on Michigan (5-11-1, 1-3-0) at 12 p.m. Sunday at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field with admission free of charge. The game also will air live on Big Ten Network.

The game is MSU’s last Big Ten conference game and regular season game of the year. Eight seniors will be honored following careers that saw the 2008 Big Ten Championship and a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Last season, the Wolverines took two victories away from the Spartans, a 3-2 overtime regular-season win in Ann Arbor and 2-1 result in the Big Ten Tournament. The last U-M victory in East Lansing came in 2003.

The Spartans are coming off a 2-1 victory Wednesday against Western Michigan, a good step for the team, head coach Damon Rensing said.

“Any little momentum you can get, you need to continue to build,” Rensing said. “Getting a result here today against a gritty Western Michigan team, who beat Michigan early in the season, I think that’s important.”

MSU is generating some offense, a task they’ve struggled with this season, in the past two games — a 2-2 tie against Indiana and the win against Western. The offense needs the kick start to find success in the late-season push, senior forward Rubin Bega said.

“In order to win, you need to score, so it felt good (in those games),” Bega said. “(We’re using) the movement off the ball and starting to click together, and we’re starting to get a lot of chances and starting to bury them too.”

Michigan has struggled this season after a run to the Final Four last season. Despite the struggles, the Wolverines did beat then-No. 4 Akron (12-2-2) on Oct. 18. The Spartans play the Zips in the last game of season on Nov. 2.

The game promises to be a good soccer game, Rensing said.

“This will be a typical Michigan-Michigan State game,” he said.

“Whatever the records are, whatever the wins are or the national rankings are, it’s going to be a 90-minute, very tough game, and there’ll be a lot of spirit to it.”

Senior goalkeeper Jeremy Clark looks forward to the matchup despite both teams’ losing records.

“It’s going to be a war,” Clark said. “Every time you play Michigan, you know it’s (the biggest game) you can think of, no matter what.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re .500 or below — it’s going to be a great game. Glad that (Big Ten Network) is going to be here, it will be a spectacular event. Each time we play Michigan in anything, and they feel the same, it’s going to be a hard-fought game.”

Following the U-M and Akron games, the Spartans will head to Ann Arbor for the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 9-13.

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