BGSU men’s soccer team (1-2-1) returns from its Michigan trip to take on another Big Ten opponent in Michigan State (2-1-0) at Cochrane Stadium on Friday, Sept. 5, at 7:00 p.m.
This will be the 52nd matchup of the two teams. They faced off last year, with the Orange and Brown taking a 1-0 victory through junior forward Bennett Painter scoring the only goal of the match.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans finished fifth in the Big Ten last season out of 11 teams, with a 5-7-5 overall record and a 4-4-2 conference record.
Head coach Damon Rensing is coming into his 17th season at Michigan State. Rensing has had nine winning seasons in his time coaching for the Spartans.
The Spartans have had an interesting tactic in the 2025 season, playing only 12 to 13 players in most games.
Sophomore defender Brandon Munson helps head the backline for the Spartans, coming off a Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Munson started in 13 out of his 14 games played, including his first collegiate start against BGSU in 2024.
The Green and White have experience at goalkeeper with redshirt senior Zac Kelly protecting the net. Kelly also had his first big break against the Falcons, with his first collegiate shutout coming against them in 2023.
Freshman midfielder Luke Spadafora has been impressive through the first three games of his career, scoring his first goal in a 1-0 victory against Detroit Mercy. Spadafora has 10 shots on the season, with six of them being on goal.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons are coming off a hard-fought 1-0 loss to the Michigan Wolverines on Labor Day and now set their eyes on taking down a different state of Michigan opponent in the Spartans.
The Orange and Brown will continue to look for the dynamic duo of Painter and senior forward Trace Terry to keep their offense in the driver’s seat.
Painter not only secured BGSU’s win over Michigan State last year, but he also scored two of the four goals for the team so far this season. His seven shots are enough for second on the team.
Terry is the only one who beats out Painter for shots on the season, with 12 of his own. He is also the only other player to have a goal in the season, with two as well. Terry has been an important part of this team since the moment he put on the BGSU uniform, playing in 55 matches for the program.
Junior goalkeeper Enzo Gil has earned his spot as the starter this season after transferring from Lindenwood. Gil made seven saves in his BGSU debut, which tied his previous high before breaking that in the following game against Butler with eight. He now has a total of 26 on the season.
FALCON FOUR PLAYERS TO WATCH
Enzo Gil – Goalkeeper #1, Bowling Green
Gil has kept the net as clean as possible throughout the first four games of the season. He has not given up more than one goal in a game and has a shutout in the Falcons’ 3-0 win against Wright State. Expect plenty of low-scoring games with Gil in the net.
Andrew Shaffer – Midfielder #8, Bowling Green
The Orange and Brown seem to have designated Shaffer to take corner kicks recently. In a matchup against a Big 10 opponent, every small detail matters, and Shaffer does them well.
Zac Kelly – Goalkeeper #30, Michigan State
As mentioned above, this matchup is going to come down to the details and how well they are executed. Kelly needs to keep the net clean like he did two years ago against BGSU to give the Spartans the upper hand.
Josh Adam – Defender #14, Michigan State
Adam has played every minute of the season so far. He also started every game in the 2024 and 2022 seasons; he was injured for the 2023 season. He is one of this team’s key defenders and uses his availability as a strength in every matchup possible.
