No. 6 Spartans Open B1G Tournament at DeMartin Against Minnesota

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The top-seeded and sixth-ranked Michigan State women's soccer team opens the 2022 Big Ten Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 30, as the Spartans welcome eighth-seeded Minnesota to DeMartin Stadium for a 4 p.m. Quarterfinal kick on Big Ten Network.

HEAD COACH JEFF HOSLER SAID…
"It's a new year, and this is a different team. We are going to approach this just like we have each time out during the regular season. We have been focused all week on our preparation for Minnesota, which is a really solid side. They present a lot of problems and have been playing in incredible form over the last five matches, going undefeated in that span. We know we are going to have to execute. At the end of the day, big matches are always decided by key moments and details, so we will have to be comfortable living in those situations."

KICKIN' IT
MSU secured its first officially-recognized Big Ten Championship on Thursday, Oct. 20, and published only the ninth undefeated B1G season in league history on Sunday, Oct. 23. Michigan State downed No. 17 Ohio State and No. 14 Rutgers, both by 1-0 scores. The Spartans completed the best regular season in program history, setting a new school record with nine league wins and need only one more overall victory to match the school record. Michigan State earned 11 Big Ten awards in the postseason, highlighted by Jeff Hosler (B1G Coach of the Year), Lauren DeBeau (B1G Forward of the Year), Ruby Diodati (B1G Defender of the Year) and Lauren Kozal (Unanimous B1G Goalkeeper of the Year). All three individual award winners, in addition to junior midfielder Justina Gaynor, were named to the All-Big Ten First Team. Senior defender Raegan Cox landed a spot on the league's Second Team, while freshman midfielder Emerson Sargeant earned an All-Freshman Team selection. Senior midfielder Abby Gardiner also garnered recognition as a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.

BACK LINE? BRICK WALL.
Michigan State owns the most dominant defense in NCAA Division I, assuming the top spot in the nation following a pair of shutout wins over Ohio State and Rutgers. The Green & White own a goals-against average of 0.389, leading second-place UCLA by 0.049 points. Through the first 18 games of the 2022 campaign, Michigan State has allowed seven total scores from an opponent, putting up shutouts against 12 challengers while allowing goals from Dartmouth, Arkansas, Colorado, Purdue, Penn State and Northwestern. MSU has more than doubled its opponents in shot attempts, 303-150, and has only allowed 60 shots on target all season resulting in 51 goalkeeper saves and two team saves.

MATCHING MINNESOTA
Second-year head coach Erin Chastain leads Minnesota into its quarterfinal matchup with an 8-7-3 overall record paired with a 4-4-2 ledger in Big Ten Conference play. The Golden Gophers make their first postseason appearance since the 2018 season, in which Minnesota took home the B1G Tournament crown after upsetting both of the top two seeds. The Gophers reached the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Graduate defender Gabbie Cesarone leads Minnesota in goals scored with six and is tied atop the roster in points with 14 alongside Sophia Boman. Senior Megan Plaschko leads the way in goal with 48 saves and a 0.738 save percentage.

STORY OF THE SERIES: MINNESOTA
In one of the most closely contested series in the Big Ten Conference, Minnesota holds a narrow 14-13-4 lead on Michigan State entering the 32nd all-time meeting between the two programs. The Spartans have edged Minnesota by a 9-6-1 margin in games played at DeMartin Stadium but have yielded a 4-7-3 mark on the road in Minneapolis. MSU has faced off against the Golden Gophers in a postseason contest on only one prior occasion, dropping a 2-0 result in the 1997 Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals in Madison, Wisconsin. Last season's meeting between the two squads in East Lansing went the way of Michigan State, 2-1, following a PK goal from Zivana Labovic and a late game-winner from MJ Andrus in the 84th.

DEMARTIN GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Click the link here to be redirected to the ticket purchasing page for Sunday afternoon's Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal. General admission tickets are available now online and at the gate beginning one hour before kick. Tickets for individual adults are available for $5, while individual youth and senior tickets are available for $3. All Michigan State students will be granted free admission to the game with a valid MSU ID. Children under the age of 8 will be admitted for free. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 1-800-GO-STATE. Gates open one hour before kick.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Sunday afternoon's Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal will be broadcast to a national television audience on Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke and Jenny Manny on the call. Authenticated subscribers can access the live simulcast of the game via the Fox Sports app on their computers, mobile phones, tablets, smart TVs and other connected devices.

FOLLOW THE SPARTANS
Visit MSUSpartans.com for more information on Michigan State women's soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Spartan women's soccer team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @MSU_WSoccer.

No. 6 Spartans Open B1G Tournament at DeMartin Against Minnesota

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