Michigan State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Opens Big Ten Tournament Play on Thursday
11/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 11, 2009
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Coach Damon | Jeff
No. 6 Michigan State (10-6-2) vs. No. 2 Northwestern (10-3-4)
Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals
Thursday, Nov. 12 • 10 a.m.
Armstrong Stadium • Bloomington, Ind.
The Last Time Out: In its final regular-season game, MSU fell to Northwestern, 1-0, in Evanston, Ill. Matt Eliason's goal just over five minutes into the game proved to be the difference.
Northwestern Series History: The Spartans lead the all-time series with the Wildcats, 26-5-2, including a 4-0 mark in the Big Ten Tournament. MSU defeated Northwestern in 1997 (2-0) and 2000 (6-0) in the first round of the Tournament. In 2004, the Spartans claimed their first Big Ten title by defeating the Wildcats, 1-0, in the championship game. Last season they defeated NU, 1-0, in the seminfinals.
Deja Vu: For the second consecutive season, MSU and NU met in the final game of the regular season and will face each other again in its first game of the Big Ten Tournament. Last season, MSU defeated Northwestern, 1-0, on Nov. 2 to claim its first regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in last year's Big Ten Tournament, the Spartans received a first-round bye and met the Wildcats in the semifinals; defeating them again, 1-0.
Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament: The Spartans are 13-16-2 all time in the Big Ten Tournament and have won two titles - 2004 and 2008. Here is a breakdown of the Spartans' all-time records against the rest of the conference in the Big Ten Tournament: 2-3 vs. Indiana, 1-5-1 vs. Penn State, 1-4-1 vs. Wisconsin, 4-3 vs. Ohio State and 1-1 vs. Michigan.
Against the RPI Top 30: Michigan State enters the weekend slotted at No. 17 in the most recent RPI rankings, released Nov. 8. MSU took on nine of the schools in the current RPI top 30, including four of the top-10. The Spartans defeated No. 6 Indiana (1-0), No. 15 Loyola Marymount (3-0) and No. 30 Notre Dame (2-1).
Early Strikes: Five times this season MSU has recorded a goal in the first nine minutes of play, going 4-1 in those games. The Spartans defeated Loyola Marymount (6:37 mark), Valparaiso (8:26 mark), Western Michigan (3:37 mark) and Michigan (5:52) when scoring early.
Overall this season, MSU is 6-1-1 when scoring first.
