MSU men's soccer believes it can to return to NCAA tournament: 'We have the guys to win'

The Michigan State men's soccer program last reached the NCAA tournament in 2018 when the Spartans reached the College Cup for the first time since 1968.

But that hasn't kept the Spartans from believing they have the talent and the system to beat anyone.

"We try to not focus a ton on expectations, but I can tell you they are high and that the players expect a lot of themselves," MSU coach Damon Rensing said as the Spartans prepare for their 2024 home opener. "I can say that I expect us to win every single game, no matter who we play, when we play, where we play. If we prepare right and take care of ourselves and execute a gameplan, we have the guys to win."

Last season, MSU went 7-2-7, including 3-1-4 in Big Ten play. The Spartans were unbeaten in their first 13 games before two losses to Ohio State — one in the Big Ten tournament opener — ultimately kept MSU out of the NCAA field.

Rensing is in his 17th season leading the Spartans, with a career 143-104-44 record. Rensing led MSU to eight NCAA tournament appearances in his first 11 seasons.

MSU opened this season on the road, battling to a 1-1 draw at No. 25 Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Thursday. Now, the Spartans look ahead to Monday's home opener against Bowling Green (7 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium).

"We did a lot of things well, controlled the majority of the game and credit to them we made one mistake in the back and they punished us for it," Rensing said. "As far as the run of play and what we did, I was pretty happy with the way we played."

MSU had three players named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List — junior defender Jeremy Sharp, junior midfielder Johnathan Stout and junior forward Jake Spadafora. Stour was a First Team All-Big Ten player last season, while Sharp and Spadafora both earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors.

"The goal is to win the Big Ten and make the NCAA tournament, and to get those things down it has to be one game at a time," Stout said. "We haven't done that in a while, but right now all we are thinking about is beating Bowling Green. One game at a time, one practice at a time, just thinking about how we can get better as a team."

After Monday's game, MSU will have three more home games against Villanova, Oregon State and Air Force before traveling to Oakland prior to the start of Big Ten play on Sept. 13.

Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU men's soccer believes it can to return to NCAA tournament: 'We have the guys to win'