As the team’s lone senior, Granaderos’ MSU soccer career ended Sunday when the Spartans fell to Duke 2-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

When the final whistle blew, Granaderos was surrounded and embraced by his teammates, who desperately wanted to extend the season for their teammate.

“It hurts, that’s all I can really say, is that it hurts,” Granaderos said. “We played well and we played well all season. But it all comes down to one goal and that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Granaderos’ career as a Spartan was unorthodox — walking onto the MSU soccer team his freshman year and working his way from the bottom up to become the starting right defender this season.

But he will best be remembered by teammates for his leadership and ability to come up with a big play in the clutch.

“Timmy is one of the best leaders I’ve ever played with,” junior co-captain and defender Colin Givens said.

Added MSU head coach Damon Rensing: “Timmy was fantastic. He’s been a great leader.”

On a team full of lead-by-example players, Granaderos often was the one to speak up in the locker room or give the halftime pep talk.

“I try to give the guys some energy,” Granaderos said.

“We have a lot of lead-by-example type guys. So I try to get them going with the ‘rah, rah’ stuff.”

While Granaderos only recorded three career goals as a Spartan, all three were huge for the team.

His first career goal was the game-winner against Michigan last season, which helped propel the Spartans to a program-first Big Ten regular season championship.

Granaderos’ second goal came this season at undefeated No. 1 Akron, which tied the game before the Zips converted a penalty kick to earn the win.

And his final goal was the game-winner against Northwestern in the first round of this year’s Big Ten Tournament, to put the Spartans into the semifinals and solidify a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament.

While Granaderos was upset to see his collegiate soccer career come to an end, he said he always will remember this season and the way the team surpassed preseason expectations.

“It was an absolutely successful season,” Granaderos said.

“You can’t look at one game and put your whole season on it. We played well all season and really came together as a team. We lost a lot of good guys last year, and I think that’s the pride we show at MSU. A lot of guys stepped up and played big roles all year. With one senior, it’s really impressive we made it so far.”