Michigan State didn’t need long to take control Tuesday night. After a quiet opening stretch, the Spartans caught fire in a 10-minute burst late in the first half and rolled past Green Bay, 3-0, at DeMartin Stadium in non-conference play.
The win pushed No. 8/12 MSU to 10-2-3 overall and gave the Spartans a 6-1-1 finish to non-conference action.
It also marked the program’s first double-digit win total since 2018. Green Bay fell to 4-8-4, and Michigan State improved to 5-1-2 all-time against the Phoenix, including 4-0-1 at home.
The matchup was the first between the teams since 2000.
Oscar Huerta was at the center of everything. The junior forward scored the first two goals and assisted on the third for his first career brace and a career-best seven points. Leo Conneh and Brandon Munson each assisted on both of Huerta’s goals, while Luke Spadafora finished the scoring burst with a goal set up by Huerta.
Michigan State head coach Damon Rensing didn’t love the start, but he liked what followed.
"I wasn't really pleased with how we started the game; I thought we were a little slow and sloppy on some things. We had a couple really good chances to score and just didn't hit that.
The quality is there," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "To the guys' credit they found it mid-way through the first half and once they sensed it, they jumped on it and that was really good of the guys.
Pleased to get a shutout, pleased to get three goals, pleased to get a lot of guys a lot of minutes. This was a tricky game for a Tuesday with a game on the way Friday.
I am just really happy for Oscar, sometimes the minutes aren't there for him, but he just keeps working and doing the right things. He waited for his opportunity and two big goals for us that was huge, to get us to 10 wins for the first time since 2018."
After pressing for nearly 25 minutes without a goal, the Spartans finally broke through in the 25th minute. Munson and Conneh linked up on the left side, Munson drove into the box and sent a ball to the far post, where Huerta finished for a 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, those same two sparked another chance. Conneh curled a cross from the top left corner of the box to the far post, and Huerta arrived to tap it in. The officials first ruled it offside, then reviewed the play and confirmed the goal for a 2-0 Michigan State advantage.
Not long after, Huerta turned provider. He slipped the ball to Spadafora, who worked through two defenders and sent a left-footed shot from the top of the box into the upper left corner for the Spartans’ third goal in the 35th minute.
"I know it was a game that wasn't Big Ten, and we were all overthinking, but as soon as we entered the field, we worked hard. I was ready to go; I got my opportunity, and the first one came, and thankfully the second one came," Huerta said.
The Spartans finished with a 21-6 edge in shots, including 18-1 in the first half, and put seven shots on goal to Green Bay’s one. MSU also won the corner kick battle, 6-2, with all six of its corners coming before halftime.
Michigan State used 22 players Tuesday night, its second-highest total this season behind the 23 used against SIUE and Niagara. Nineteen of those 22 played at least 10 minutes.
Huerta’s pair made him the fourth different Spartan to record a brace this season, and the second against a Wisconsin opponent. He joins Munson, who scored twice against UAlbany on Aug.
20; Andrew Darakdjian, who did it against Northwestern on Sept. 15; and Richie Ludwig, who scored twice against No. 13 Wisconsin on Sept.
His seven points matched Munson for the second-most in a single match by a Spartan this season.
Defensively, Michigan State finished the job after halftime. Green Bay managed only one shot on goal all night, and junior goalkeeper Jake Grekowicz stopped it to earn his sixth solo clean sheet of the season.
The shutout was MSU’s sixth of the year, with five coming at home. The Spartans are now unbeaten at DeMartin at 7-0-3 and have outscored opponents there, 23-6.
MSU, tied for first in the Big Ten standings, returns to conference play for its home regular-season finale against Rutgers on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. The Spartans then head to Bloomington, Indiana, for a Wednesday, Nov. 4 date with No. 4/7 Indiana at 7 p.m. in a game that could carry major implications for the Big Ten regular-season title.
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