Michigan State University Athletics
No. 25 MSU Soccer Travels to Ohio State Sunday
10/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
• Michigan State men's soccer concludes its pair of games against the Buckeye State, taking on Big Ten rival Ohio State on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network. Dan Kelly and Paul Tenerio will be on the call
MSU Notes vs. OSUOSU Notes
The Spartans ended September winning five of the six games. Michigan State's only loss in September came against No. 1 Maryland.
SCOUTING REPORT: OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are 3-7 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten action. On Wednesday, Ohio State fell to SIU Edwardsville, 3-2, in Columbus.
Five different Buckeyes have scored at least one goal for the this season for Ohio State. Danny Jensen has scored four goals to lead the team. Nate Kohl and Austin Bergstrom have both scored three goals apiece followed by Abdi Mohamed with two goals.
In net, Parker Siegfried has played all 930 minutes in goal this season to date. He has 28 saves, one shutout and a goals-against average of 1.50. Siegfried has one shutout this season.
SPARTANS-BUCKEYES SERIES
Michigan State holds a 24-20-3 overall series record against Ohio State. Last season in East Lansing, Ohio State edged Michigan State 2-1. With the loss, MSU fell to 5-4-1 on the season and 1-1-1 in Big Ten Conference action, while Ohio State improved to 4-4-2 overall and 1-1-1 in B1G play. The loss snapped Michigan State's two-game winning streak, while OSU had won three-straight games.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Forward Ryan Sierakowski has suffered no sophomore slump this season. In two seasons in the Spartan Green and White, Sierakowski is t-8th in career points for MSU with 24. He is also sixth with 10 career goals. With 2.88 shots per game this season, the sophomore is second in single-season shots per game.
PUTTING IN THE TIME
Junior defender Jimmy Fiscus is the only Spartan to have played every minute this season, logging in 720 minutes. Eight players have played at least 600 minutes this season, including defenders Brad Centala and Dewey Lewis who both have played over 690 minutes. The Spartan conditioning seems to be paying off, as MSU has had the same starting 11 all season.
HAGUE MAKING A STATEMENT
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Jimmy Hague is third in the Big Ten in goals against average with a 0.76 GAA through the first eight games. Hague is also second in save percentage (0.833). Hague has four shutouts this season. Last season, the Spartans had eight wins and already have six this season.
REGIONAL RANKING
This week, the Spartans are ranked No. 3 in the most recent NSCAA Midwest Poll. Maryland is first in the regional rankings followed by Indiana. Delaware is fourth followed by William & Mary and Wisconsin.
BIG TEN OPENERS
Michigan State is 4-2-2 in the first match of Big Ten play under head coach Damon Rensing. The Spartans have won three of their last four B1G openers, picking up wins against Northwestern in 2013 and Maryland in 2014, before tying Maryland last season along with defeated Rutgers, 4-0, on Sept. 9.
This was the Spartans earliest Big Ten opener since opening the season against Northwestern on Sept. 3, 1994. Prior to that the earliest B1G game was also against Northwestern on Sept. 8, 1996. This was also the first time that MSU has opened league play against the Scarlet Knights.
RENSING SAYS
"We are coming off a very tough game at No. 1 Maryland. It was their fifth-largest crowd ever with almost 7,500 fans there. It was very electric environment. They were the No. 1 team in the country and I thought our guys came away with a lot of positives," Rensing said. "This week is kind of Ohio week with a very good Bowling Green team tomorrow, coming off a win against Ohio State. We follow up with a very typical Ohio State team, always good at home."
YOUNG GUNS
Six of the Spartans' 11 goals this season have been scored by underclassmen. Sophomore Ryan Sierakowski is first on the team with three goals. Sophomores DeJuan Jones and Hunter Barone have both scored a goal this season, while freshman Giuseppe Barone has added one as well. MSU has started five underclassmen this season, including freshmen Michael Wetungu, Michael Pimlott and Giuseppe Barone. Sophomores Hunter Barone and Jones have come off the bench.
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State has three captains this season in seniors Andrew Herr and Dewey Lewis, along with junior Jimmy Fiscus.
UP NEXT
After one game away from home, the Spartans return to DeMartin Stadium to take on Western Michigan on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. The Spartans then host Big Ten rival Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.
TREVOR HARRIS ENTERS HALL OF FAME
An international import from Kingston, Jamaica, Trevor Harris helped guide the Michigan State soccer team to back-to-back Co-National Championships during the 1967 and 1968 seasons. The Harris-led Spartans were prolific scorers, setting the school record with 77 goals during the 1968 season.
Harris was a true goal scorer who helped head coach Gene Kenney's powerhouse teams share national titles in 1967-68 with a combined record of 23-1-5. The two-time All-American finished his illustrious Spartan career with 48 goals, which still ranks third on MSU's all-time list. From 1967-69, Harris earned 116 points, which also still stands as third-most in Michigan State history.
"I am overwhelmed with excitement to be a member of the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame," Harris said. "It's really exciting being recognized at such a prestigious university and I just feel very fortunate to be a part of that."
During the 1967 campaign, Harris scored 23 goals as a sophomore, which still ranks as the third-most goals in a single season in MSU history. The Spartans outscored their opponents, 73-11, and finished with a stellar record of 12-0-2. They settled a score with Long Island with a 4-0 win in an NCAA semifinal. Michigan State battled to a 0-0 tie against St. Louis to share the NCAA Championship. that will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
MICHIGAN STATE NOTES
• Michigan State men's soccer was picked sixth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll. The Spartans ended the 2015 campaign with an 8-9-2 overall record and a 2-4-2 Big Ten mark. Two-time defending Big Ten Tournament champion, Maryland was picked first despite finishing tied for third in the regular season in 2015. Indiana was voted to finish in the No. 2 spot, followed by 2015 regular season champs Ohio State at No. 3. Rutgers checked in at the No. 4 followed by Michigan at the No. 5 position and Michigan State at No. 6. Wisconsin was voted to finish in the No. 7 spot followed by Penn State (No. 8) and Northwestern (No. 9).
• During its 2016 campaign, Michigan State will take on seven 2015 NCAA Tournament qualifiers in their 17-game regular-season schedule, including six teams that finished in the NCAA RPI Top 25 and seven teams that finished in the NSCAA Top 25. The Spartans challenging schedule also includes 10 teams with 10 or more wins in 2015.
MSU will take on three teams in the top 10, including hosting No. 2 Akron on Oct. 11 at the DeMartin Soccer Complex. The Spartans will also travel to No. 4 Maryland in a Big Ten matchup on Sept. 23. MSU will end the regular season at No. 9 Notre Dame on Oct. 25 and No. 15 Indiana on Oct. 30.
• The 2016 Big Ten Tournament will begin on Sunday, Nov. 6 at the top four seeds' home sites. The semifinals will follow on Friday, Nov. 11 and the championship will be held on Sunday, Oct. 13. The Big Ten semifinal and championship will be played at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.
• MSU returns seven starters from last season's team that finished the season 8-9-2 overall and 2-4-2 in Big Ten action. The Spartans return two of their top three scorers in sophomore forward Ryan Sierakowski and junior midfielder Ken Krolicki. Sierakowski led the team in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. He was also named to the Big Ten All-Freshman squad. Krolicki was third in scoring with two goals and three assists for seven points.
The Spartans' seven returning starters are part of the 17 returners from last season, including seniors Dewey Lewis and Andrew Herr. In goal, Michigan State has big shoes to fill in the graduation of all-time shutout leader Zach Bennett. Starters Jason Stacy and Zach Carroll have both graduated as well.
• A pair of juniors, defender Jimmy Fiscus and midfielder Ken Krolicki were named to the preseason honors list, along with sophomore forward Ryan Sierakowski. Fiscus and Sierakowski played in all 19 games last season with Krolicki playing in 18. Sierakowski was the Spartan's leading scorer last season with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Krolicki was third in scoring in 2015 with two goals and three assists for seven points.
TOPDRAWER PRESEASON HONORS
The junior duo of defender Jimmy Fiscus and midfielder Ken Krolicki were named to the Preseason Top 100 Players Rankings by TopDrawerSoccer. Freshman midfielder Giuseppe Barone was tabbed to the TopDrawerSoccer Freshman First Team.
BARONE BUNCH
Freshman Giuseppe Barone will become the fourth member of the Barone family to don the Green and White. He joins current Spartan Hunter as well as former MSU players Mark (2008-11) Domenic (2008-12).
LAST TIME OUT
• For the second-straight season, the Michigan State men's soccer team stopped Bowling Green, 1-0, at a rainy and windy DeMartin Stadium. Last season, a second-half goal by DeJuan Jones gave the Spartans the 1-0 win at Bowling Green.
"Winning games in college soccer is not easy. I thought we played well for a large part of the game. I think we got the lead a stopped playing a little bit, could've done a little bit better job managing the game, but Bowling Green was 6-2-1 so they're a good team and we knew they were going to come," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said.
With the win, Michigan State improves to 6-2 overall, while Bowling Green falls to 6-3-1. The Spartans last three wins have all been 1-0 shutouts. Redshirt-sophomore Jimmy Hague was once again stellar in net for the Spartans with his fourth shutout of the season. To keep a clean sheet, Hague made six saves.
"This was a big win for us, coming off a 2-0 loss to Maryland to come back and show who we really are, so the end result was big time," Hague said. "I think we've had an extremely good start so far. Our two losses have been games that we actually played pretty well so we haven't had a game yet where we've been playing terrible. Eight games into the season now and we're in good form, just got to keep going. It always feels good to get a shutout, but a lot of credit to our defenders and midfielders today."
