MSU Closes Out the Regular-Season at Northwestern

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer closes out the regular season on the road against Northwestern on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. ET.

Michigan State stands 6-7-2 overall and 2-3-2 in Big Ten contests. Last time out, the Spartans fell to No. 7 Maryland, 3-1. Northwestern is 5-8-2 overall and 2-5-0 in league play.

PLAYING THE BEST
This week, the Spartans now have the fourth-toughest strength of schedule in the nation. Only Oregon State, Stanford and Virginia were higher. Michigan State has the toughest strength of schedule in the Big Ten. MSU also has the third-best RPI in the league (No. 28), behind Maryland (No. 16) and Indiana (No. 18).

THANK YOU SPARTAN NATION
Michigan State has been thrilled to be fans back in the stands this season. After the completion of the regular season, the Spartans are No. 13 in the country in attendance, averaging 1,580 fans per game. Only Maryland (2,503) and Indiana (2,230) have higher averages in the Big Ten. Overall, 14,219 people have packed DeMartin Stadium this season.

END OF THE LINE
Sunday is the final day of the regular season with a lot on the line. Eight of the nine teams advance to the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana and Penn State are tied for first with matching 5-2 records. The Spartans are currently sixth in the league with six points. Rutgers is seventh with seven points, while Ohio State and Northwestern are tied for six points.

EFFICIENCY AT ITS BEST
Sophomore midfielder Jack Zugay has been incredibly efficient in his scoring during his two seasons at MSU. His game-winning goal against Rutgers on Oct. 10 was his second career goal. It was also his second game-winning goal as he also netted the game winner against Wisconsin last season.

QUITE THE COMBO
Seniors Farai Mutatu and Jack Beck have been quite the scoring combination this season. The six goals scored by Mutatu are the most by a Spartan since Ryan Sierakowski scored eight in 2018. Beck's seven assists are the most by an MSU player since All-American Giuseppe Barone had 10 helpers in 2018.

GETTING IN THE GAME
Five Spartans have started all 15 games this season, including Farai Mutatu, Jack Beck, Michael Miller, Will Perkins and Nick Stone. Perkins and Stone lead the way in minutes played with 1,358 and 1,396, respectively. Twenty-one different Spartans have started at least one game.

SPARTANS VS THE BIG TEN
Senior forward Farai Mutatu is tied for third in the league in goals with six along with three other players in the Big Ten. He added to his goal count with the Spartans first goal of the game against Michigan on Oct. 5. The six goals was the most by a Spartan since Ryan Sierakowski scored eight in 2018.

Senior midfielder Jack Beck continues to have stellar season for the Spartans. Beck is tied for first in the league in the assists with seven along with Penn State's Seth Kuhn.

As a team, Michigan State is fifth in the conference in points with 56, including 18 goals and 20 assists.

LOOKING AT THE WILDCATS
Michigan State holds an overall record of 33-8-2 against Northwestern, including 10-6-3 in Evanston. The series has been close of late, with MSU holding a slim, 5-3-2 edge in the last 10 meetings, with the Spartans winning three of the last five, going 3-1-1. A 2-0 victory for MSU at Evanston in 2017 was the last win by the road team, with the Spartans winning, 2-0, last season at East Lansing, after the Wildcats won, 1-0, in 2019 in Evanston, and a 0-0 draw in 2018 in East Lansing.

Northwestern has a 5-8-2 overall record and a 2-5-0 B1G mark entering Sunday's regular-season finale. Last time out, NU lost to Villanova, 2-0, in an all-Wildcats clash, in a non-conference contest on Oct. 24. In its last B1G match, Northwestern blanked Wisconsin, 2-0, on the road, on Oct. 19.

Sophomore forward Justin Weiss leads the Wildcats with 14 points on a team-best six goals and two assists, while junior midfielder Vincente Castro has nine points, netting two goals to go with a team-high five assists. In goal, graduate Miha Miskovic has 11 starts with a 5-5-1 record, yielding 12 goals for a 1.07 gaa, making 40 saves for a 76.9 save percentage, posting four solo clean sheets and one combined shutout. Fellow graduate Ethan Bandre has four starts with an 0-3-1 mark, including drawing the start in the Villanova match. He has six goals against for a 1.61 gaa, with a 60.0 save percentage.

LAST MEETING WITH NORTHWESTERN
Last season, the Spartans tamed the Wildcats with a 2-0 blanking in MSU's return to DeMartin, in Michigan State's first home match of the 2020 (spring 2021) season. The Spartans used a first half firecracker from forward Farai Mutatu in the 31st minute and a sweet second-half strike from midfielder Conner George in the 63rd minute to spark the offensive attack. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Isiah Handspike made his season debut and posted a clean sheet behind a staunch defense as the Spartans successfully defended DeMartin.

LAST MEETING WITH MARYLAND
Despite a quick flurry at the end of the game, Michigan State lost to Maryland, 2-1, on March 19, 2021 in College Park, as the 2020 season was played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UMD broke a 0-0 halftime score with a PK in the 46th minute and a goal in the 76th minute, before the Spartans fought back, breaking through in the 89th minute, but time ran out before MSU could get the equalizer.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State men's soccer was topped by No. 7 Maryland, 3-1, on a Oct. 22 night at DeMartin Stadium in MSU's regular-season home finale.

"It was a tough result tonight, with the way we started the game was an unfortunate goal, you don't want to give one up that early, and that kind of set the tone," MSU head coach Damon Rensing said. "We had the play where the Maryland player got hurt, first of all I'd like to say we hope he's doing well, and I wish him, his family and the team all the best. To Maryland's credit, they came out of that injury in the last 10 minutes of the half and got another goal, so it was tough to go down 2-0 at half."

FINDING THE BACK OF THE NET
So far this season, 11 different Spartans have found the back of the net. Against Ohio State on Oct. 17, sophomore midfielder Vedad Kovac scored his first collegiate. Senior Farai Mutatu leads the team in scoring with six goals and three assists for 15 points. Fellow senior Michael Miller and redshirt-junior Will Perkins are tied for second in goals scored with two.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
The Spartan have named four captains this season. Leading MSU will be seniors Jack Beck, Michael Miller, Farai Mutatu and Will Perkins.

BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31
O: Tommy Mihalic, Fr., IU
D: Oren Asher, Jr., RU

Sept. 7
O: Ben Bender, So., UMD
D: Oren Asher, Jr., RU

Sept. 14
O: Nico Rosamilia, Fr., RU
D: Daniel Munie, Jr., IND

Sept. 21
O: Farai Mutatu, Sr., MSU
D: Keagan McLaughlin, Sr., OSU

Sept. 28
O: Kevin Buca, Sr., MICH
O: Peter Mangione, So., PSU
D: Zach Klancnik, Sr., WIS

Oct. 5
O: Evan Rasmussen, Jr., MICH
D: Oren Asher, Jr., RU

Oct. 12
O: Daniel Bloyou, Sr., PSU
D: Daniel Munie, Jr., IND

Oct. 19
O: Daniel Bloyou, Sr., PSU
D: Roman Cel, Jr., IND

Oct. 26
O: Laurence Wootton, So., OSU
D: Daniel Munie, Jr., IND

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Players Mentioned

Jack Beck

Conner George

Isiah Handspike

Vedad Kovac

Michael Miller

Farai Mutatu

Will Perkins

Nick Stone

Jack Zugay