Michigan–Michigan State men's soccer rivalry

The Michigan–Michigan State soccer rivalry is an American college soccer rivalry^[4][5][6][7] between the University of Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State University Spartans.

Michigan-Michigan State soccer rivalry

Michigan Wolverines Michigan State Spartans
Sport	Soccer
First meeting	October 13, 1956 Michigan State 3, Michigan Club 1
Latest meeting	October 10, 2023 Michigan State 0, Michigan 0
Trophy	Big Bear Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total	56
All-time series	Michigan State leads, 33–13–10 (Total)[1] Michigan State leads, 15–12–5 (Varsity)[2]
Trophy series	Michigan State leads, 13–6–4 [3]
Largest victory	Michigan State, 5–0 (2007)
Longest win streak	Michigan, 5 (2019–2021)
Longest unbeaten streak	Tied: Michigan State, 7 (2004–2009) and Michigan, 7 (2018–2022)
Current unbeaten streak	Michigan State, 1 (2022–present)

History

The winner of each year's game receives the Big Bear Trophy. The first game was played October 13, 1956, which saw the Spartans defeat the Wolverine club team 3-1 in East Lansing. The Spartans played Michigan's club team 24 times between 1956 and 1991, amassing a 18–1–5 record.^[1] In 2000, Michigan added soccer as a Varsity sport and on October 15, 2000, the rivalry between the varsity club officially began with the Spartans winning 2–1 in double overtime in East Lansing. The trophy originated in 2000 when Michigan head coach Steve Burns purchased the wooden-bear sculpture to commemorate the revival of the rivalry.^[8] Burns said that he and Michigan State head coach Joe Baum collaborated on a trophy game because they "wanted to have some kind of trophy for this rivalry that the teams can pass back and forth. We hope that it takes a life on its own."^[9] In the spring of 2021, the restructured Big Ten soccer season saw the two teams matched up twice in the regular season for the first time, however neither game would contest the Big Bear trophy.^[10] If the Big bear game ends in a tie the trophy stays with the team that has it last.

Game results

See footnotes^[11][12]

Michigan State leads the varsity series, 15–12–5. The Big Bear trophy series is solely a result of the regular season meeting, excluding NCAA and Big Ten postseason games. In the trophy series, Michigan State leads, 13–6–5 through the 2023 season.

Michigan victories

Michigan State victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 15, 2000 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 2–12OT 2 October 14, 2001 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 4–2 3 October 13, 2002 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan State 2–1 4 November 15, 2002 Bloomington, IN Michigan 1–0 5 October 12, 2003 East Lansing, MI Michigan 4–2 6 October 17, 2004 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan State 3–2OT 7 October 16, 2005 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 2–0 8 November 10, 2005 Evanston, IL Michigan State 1–0 9 October 8, 2006 Ann Arbor, MI Tie 1–1 10 October 14, 2007 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 5–0 11 October 18, 2008 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan State 1–0 12 October 25, 2009 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 2–1 13 October 30, 2010 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 3–2OT 14 November 11, 2010 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 2–1 15 October 30, 2011 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 1–0 16 November 3, 2012 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 1–0 17 November 11, 2012 Evanston, IL Michigan State 2–1OT No. Date Location Winner Score 18 November 9, 2013 East Lansing, MI No. 18 Michigan State 2–0 19 November 2, 2014 East Lansing, MI Michigan 3–2 20 October 31, 2015 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 1–0 21 September 18, 2016 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 1–0 22 September 17, 2017 Ann Arbor, MI No. 6 Michigan State 1–0OT 23 October 23, 2018 East Lansing, MI Tie 1–1 24 October 29, 2019 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 2–0 25 November 10, 2019 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 2–1 26 February 23, 2021 Brighton, MI Michigan 1–0 27 March 23, 2021 East Lansing, MI No. 11 Michigan 2–1OT 28 April 10, 2021 Ann Arbor, MI No. 20 Michigan 1–0 29 October 5, 2021 Ann Arbor, MI Tie 2–2 30 September 27, 2022 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 2–0 31 October 10, 2023 Ann Arbor, MI Tie 0–0 32 October 22, 2024 East Lansing, MI Tie 0–0 Series: Michigan State leads 15–12–5

See also

• Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry
• Michigan–Michigan State men's basketball rivalry
• Michigan–Michigan State men's ice hockey rivalry
• Michigan–Michigan State women's basketball rivalry

References

1. "Michigan State Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 10, 2013.
2. "2015 University of Michigan Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. February 6, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 22, 2016.
3. Official Michigan Men's Soccer Records Archived November 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine,
4. Athletics, M. S. U. (October 30, 2019). "MSU Loses Battle for the Big Bear Trophy to Michigan Tuesday". wilx.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
5. Reports, Detroit Free Press Staff. "Metro & state: MSU men's soccer tops Michigan for Big Bear Trophy". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
6. "Men's soccer looks to retain Big Bear Trophy in annual 'Mitten Derby'". The Michigan Daily. November 7, 2013. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
7. Bakr, Adam. "Spartans can't overcome slow start, fall to rival Michigan". Impact 89FM. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
8. "University of Michigan Official Athletic Site". Mgoblue.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
9. "Michigan Drops Physical Game to Spartans in Double OT – University of Michigan Official Athletic Site". Mgoblue.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
10. @umichsoccer (February 23, 2021). "Due to the unique circumstances surrounding this spring season, the coaching staffs from Michigan and Michigan Stat…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
11. "University of Michigan Official Athletic Site – Men's Soccer". Mgoblue.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
12. "Michigan State Official Athletic Site – Men's Soccer". Msuspartans.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2010.