No. 5 Soccer Returns to the Pitch Friday Against Canisius

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 5 Michigan State men's soccer continues its season-long four-game homestand on Friday, Aug. 31, hosting Canisius at 3 p.m. Kicking off a busy day, as the MSU football team opens the season at 7 p.m., the Spartans take on the Griffin for their third-straight home game. MSU is 1-0-1 after a win against South Florida and a double overtime tie against Tulsa last week.

Parking Information
Complete Notes vs. Canisius
DeJuan Jones Video

Freshman forward Farai Mutatu scored the only goal of the season for the Spartans with the game winner against the Bulls with less than four minutes left in regulation. Senior goalkeeper Jimmy Hague has started the season with two-straight clean sheets for MSU. The reigning Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year has already made five saves in the first two games.

If available, live video and live stats links will be at www.msuspartans.com.

SCOUTING THE GRIFFINS
Canisius, who has opened the season with a 1-1 record, was favored to win the MAAC regular season title in the preseason polls. The Griffins also had a league-high of four players named to the Preseason All-MAAC squads.

Michigan State holds a 2-0 series record against Canisius. The two teams last met back in 1997 when the Spartans defeated the Griffins, 6-2.

SCOUTING REPORT: THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside has started the season with an 0-2 record. To open the season, the Highlanders dropped a 3-2 decision to Loyola Marymount. UCR then fell to UC Santa Barbara on the road, 3-1. The Spartans and the Highlanders have only met on other time with MSU earning a 2-1 win in Corvallis, Oregon in 2006.

UC Riverside has had two different goalkeepers this season with Angel Noriega started the first game of the season. Edwyn Guitierrez played the final 45 minutes in the season opener and all of the game against UCSB. This season, the Highlanders have scored three goals, while allowing six.

RENSING SAYS
"Canisius is 1-1 after the first weekend. Anytime you get a team come in on the road they are going to be excited to play. Anytime you have a top 20 ranking they are going to be excited to knock somebody off. They are pretty organized defensively, so we are going to have to be a little better on the ball and create some more chances."

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
This season, Michigan State will have three captains in seniors Connor Corrigan, Jimmy Hague and DeJuan Jones.

HAGUE EARNS BIG TEN HONOR
Michigan State goalkeeper Jimmy Hague earned Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week by the league after starting the season with a pair of clean sheets last week. He shares the honor with Northwestern goalkeeper Miha Miskovic. Indiana midfielder A.J. Palazzolo was named Offensive Player of the Week.

Hague, a senior goalkeeper from Walled Lake, Michigan, earned his first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season. This was the fourth career honor for Hague who also was honored twice in 2017 and once in 2017. The reigning Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year made five saves in 200:00 over two games.

The goalkeeper earned a pair of shutout as the Spartans went 1-0-1 last week. The Spartans defeated South Florida on Aug. 24, and tied No. 19 Tulsa in a double overtime tie on Aug. 26. Hague made four saves against the Golden Hurricane, including a game-saver in the first half.

AROUND THE HORN
Michigan State and Northwestern are the only two Big Ten teams without a loss after the first week of the season. Both the Spartans and the Wildcats hold 1-0-1 records.

MICHIGAN STATE NOTES
• No. 7 Michigan State men's soccer team was voted second in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll, as voted on by the B1G coaches on Wednesday. Seniors Jimmy Hague, DeJuan Jones and Ryan Sierakowski were also named to the Big Ten Preseason honors list.

The Spartans finished last season with an overall record of 13-3-4 and a 5-0-3 Big Ten record earning a trip to the Elite Eight. MSU ended the season ranked No. 6 in the Untied Soccer Coaches poll and was one of three Big Ten teams to finish in the top 10 along with Indiana (No. 2) and Wisconsin (No. 10).

Indiana was picked first in the league after advancing to the NCAA College Cup National Championship last season. The Spartans were picked second after being voted fourth last season. MSU reached the Elite Eight in 2017. Maryland was voted third, followed by Michigan and Wisconsin, respectively. Ohio State and Penn State were tied for sixth, while Northwestern an Rutgers were voted eighth and ninth, respectively.

• For the second-straight season, Michigan State will take on six teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament during its 17-game regular-season schedule, including five teams that finished in the NCAA RPI Top 25. MSU will also face five teams that finished in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25. The Spartans' challenging schedule also includes seven teams with 10 or more wins in 2017.

• The 2018 Big Ten Tournament will begin on Sunday, Nov. 4 at the top four seeds' home sites. The semifinals will follow on Friday, Nov. 9 and the championship will be held on Sunday, Oct. 11. The Big Ten semifinal and championship will be played at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana for the third-straight season.

TOPDRAWER PRESEASON HONORS
Four Spartans were named to the Preseason Top 100 Players Rankings by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Senior goalkeeper Jimmy Hague (12), senior forward Ryan Sierakowski (36), junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone and senior forward DeJuan Jones were all honored.

BARONE BUNCH
Junior Giuseppe Barone became the fourth member of the Barone family to don the Green and White last season. He joins current Spartan Hunter as well as former MSU players Mark (2008-11) Domenic (2008-12).

UP NEXT
After taking on Canisius (Aug. 31) and UC Riverside (Sept. 3), Michigan State will hit the road for the first time this season, facing Bowling Green on Friday, Sept. 7, before hosting Oakland on Monday, Sept. 10.

No. 5 Soccer Returns to the Pitch Friday Against Canisius

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Players Mentioned

Giuseppe Barone

Connor Corrigan

Jimmy Hague

DeJuan Jones

Farai Mutatu

Ryan Sierakowski