Michigan State Men’s Soccer: Four Spartans earn All-Big Ten honors

The Michigan State men’s soccer team wrapped up the regular season last week with a 6-8-2 overall record and a 3-4-1 mark in conference play. Despite the losing record, a number of Spartans stood out during the season and earned Big Ten honors announced by the league today highlighted by forward Jonathan Stout being named co-Freshman of the Year.

In addition, graduate senior goalkeeper Owen Finnerty earned All-Big Ten second-team honors, while forward Jake Spadafora and Stout earned All-Freshman Team honors. Sophomore defender Josh Adam earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Stout hails from Wyoming, Michigan and led the Spartans with four goals and four assists for 12 points this season. He becomes the first freshman player for MSU to earn Freshman of the Year honors since 2016 when All-American Giuseppe Barone did so. He becomes the fourth Spartan to earn the honor and shared the 2022 award with Rutgers freshman Cole Cruthers.

A native of Walled Lake, Michigan, Finnerty is the first Michigan State goalkeeper to earn all-conference accolades since Jimmy Hague, also of Walled Lake, did so in 2018. Finnerty’s All-Big Ten second-team honor is the first All-Big Ten recognition of his career. He started all 16 games this season for MSU and had a season high saves (eight) against Ohio State and shots faced (27) against Bowling Green with a save percentage of 72.9 percent on the year.

Spadafora is another Michigan native on the roster, hailing from Northville. He has one goal and one assist with three points on the season. Spadafora earned 13 starts and played in 15 games this season for the Green and White. He and Stout become the first pair of Spartans to combine for All-Freshman Team honors in the same season since 2018 when Jack Beck and Farai Mutatu did so.

Josh Adam started in all 16 games this season for Michigan State. He scored one goal and had one assist, earning three points on the season. Adam earned the Sportsmanship Award for the Spartans and is from Brighton, Michigan.

As a round up of Big Ten honors, Rutgers’ MD Myers was named Offensive Player of the Year, and Ohio State Buckeye Laurence Wooten was Midfielder of the Year. Indiana’s Daniel Munie earned the Defender of the Year honors, while OSU’s Keegan McLaughlin was named Goalkeeper of the Year. Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski captured Coach of the Year accolades.

Michigan State earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and returns to the pitch tonight in Columbus against the No. 3 seed Ohio State Buckeyes, who are ranked No. 18 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. During the regular season, Michigan State fell by a final score of 2-1 last week against then No. 13 OSU in Columbus on Oct. 25. The game will be available via streaming on B1G+.