2019 Michigan State Spartans men's soccer team
The 2019 Michigan State Spartans men's soccer team represented Michigan State University during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The program was coached by 11th year head coach, Damon Rensing. It was the 64th season the university fielded a men's varsity soccer team, and their 29th season in the Big Ten Conference.
| 2019 Michigan State Spartans men's soccer | |
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| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 2019 record | 3–11–3 (3–4–1 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home stadium | DeMartin Stadium |
| 2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Indiana ‡ | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 15 | – | 3 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Penn State + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 4 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Michigan + | 4 | – | 1 | – | 3 | 11 | – | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland + | 3 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 3 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 12 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 1 | – | 4 | – | 3 | 3 | – | 11 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | 1 | – | 6 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 8 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 1 | – | 6 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 11 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Big Ten | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
The 2018 campaign was one of the most successful college soccer seasons in Spartan soccer history. The program reached their first College Cup in 50 years, where they lost in the semifinals to eventual national runners-up, Akron. Michigan State goalkeeper, Jimmy Hague, won the Big Ten Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Award. Hague, Ken Krolicki, and Jimmy Fiscus were named to the All-Big Ten first-team. DeJuan Jones and Ryan Sierakowski were named to the All-Big Ten second-team. Sierakowski lead the Spartans in goals in 2018 scoring eight goals in 23 appearances. Giuseppe Barone lead the team in assists in 2018, dishing out 10 assists in 23 matches. Jones, Sierakowski, and Hague were all selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.
Following the conclusion of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, two of the three assistant coaches to Damon Rensing left the program. Micah Collins, who entered his first year as an assistant coach in 2018 remains on the coaching staff. Long-time assistant coach, Ben Pirmann, left the program to be an assistant coach with the USL Championship (U.S. second division) club, Memphis 901 FC. Michigan State University hired Northwestern associate head coach, Joe Ahearn, as an assistant coach to replace Pirmann. Additionally, assistant coach, Cale Wassermann left the program to take the head coaching job for the SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's soccer program. The program hired former Akron assistant coach, T.J. Kolba to replace Wassermann.
Squad
Roster
- As of August 26, 2019[1]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Team management
| Front office | |
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| Athletic Director | Bill Beekman |
| Deputy Athletic Director | Alan Haller |
| Athletic Director | Jennifer Smith |
| Coaching staff | |
| Head coach | Damon Rensing |
| Assistant coach | Joe Ahearn |
| Assistant coach | Micah Collins |
| Assistant coach | T.J. Kolba |
Last updated: August 27, 2019
Source: MSUSpartans.com
Preseason
Preseason Big Ten poll
Michigan State was predicted to finish fourth in the Big Ten Conference.[2]
| Coaches' Poll | ||
| Predicted finish | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indiana | |
| 2 | Maryland | |
| 3 | Michigan | |
| 4 | Michigan State | |
| 5 | Wisconsin | |
| 6 | Penn State | |
| 7 | Northwestern | |
| 8 | Ohio State | |
| 9 | Rutgers | |
Schedule
| Date Time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site City, State | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preseason | |||||||||||
| August 18* 7:00 pm |
No. 7 | at UIC | T 0–0 2OT | Flames Field Chicago, IL | |||||||
| August 20* 5:00 pm |
No. 7 | Butler | T 0–0 2OT | DeMartin Stadium East Lansing, MI | |||||||
| August 23* 7:00 pm |
No. 7 | at Xavier | T 0–0 2OT | XU Soccer Complex Cincinnati, OH | |||||||
| Non-conference regular season | |||||||||||
| August 30* 1:00 pm, BTN+ |
No. 7 | SIUE | T 0–0 2OT | 0–0–1 |
DeMartin Stadium (830) East Lansing, MI | ||||||
| September 2* 2:00 pm, BTN+ |
No. 7 | No. 18 Florida Gulf Coast | T 1–1 2OT | 0–0–2 |
DeMartin Stadium (790) East Lansing, MI | ||||||
| September 6* 7:00 pm, BTN |
No. 16 | No. 13 Washington | L 0–1 | 0–1–2 |
DeMartin Stadium (1,074) East Lansing, MI | ||||||
| September 8* 3:00 pm, BTN+ |
No. 16 | Cornell | L 1–2 OT | 0–2–2 |
DeMartin Stadium (1,627) East Lansing, MI | ||||||
| September 14* 7:00 pm |
at Dartmouth | L 1–2 | 0–3–2 |
Burnham Field (847) Hanover, NH | |||||||
| September 20* 7:00 pm, BTN+ |
Western Michigan | L 0–1 | 0–4–2 |
DeMartin Stadium (1,502) East Lansing, MI | |||||||
| September 24* 7:00 pm, FS1 |
Notre Dame | L 0–1 | 0–5–2 |
DeMartin Stadium (616) East Lansing, MI | |||||||
| Big Ten Regular Season | |||||||||||
| September 27 7:00 pm |
at No. 22 Rutgers | W 3–0 | 1–5–2 (1–0–0) |
Yurcak Field (761) Piscataway, NJ | |||||||
| October 1 6:00 pm, BTN+ |
No. 22 Penn State | L 0–3 | 1–6–2 (1–1–0) |
DeMartin Stadium (523) East Lansing, MI | |||||||
| October 6 1:30 pm, BTN |
at Wisconsin | W 2–1 OT | 2–6–2 (2–1–0) |
Dan McClimon Stadium (504) Madison, WI | |||||||
| October 11 7:00 pm, BTN |
No. 25 Maryland | T 1–1 2OT | 2–6–3 (2–1–1) |
DeMartin Stadium (1,041) East Lansing, MI | |||||||
| October 15* 7:00 pm, BTN |
at Akron | L 0–2 | 2–7–3 |
FirstEnergy Stadium (1,763) Akron, OH | |||||||
| October 19 7:30 pm, BTN+ |
Ohio State | DeMartin Stadium East Lansing, MI | |||||||||
| October 22* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at Oakland | Oakland Soccer Field Rochester, MI | |||||||||
| October 25 8:30 pm |
at Northwestern | Martin Stadium Evanston, IL | |||||||||
| October 29 8:00 pm, BTN |
at Michigan Big Bear Trophy |
DeMartin Stadium East Lansing, MI | |||||||||
| November 3 3:00 pm, BTN+ |
at Indiana | U-M Soccer Stadium Ann Arbor, MI | |||||||||
| Big Ten Tournament | |||||||||||
| November 10 TBD, BTN+ |
vs. TBD Quarterfinals |
Ludwig Field College Park, MD | |||||||||
| *Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. | |||||||||||
Rankings
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 |
Wk 2 |
Wk 3 |
Wk 4 |
Wk 5 |
Wk 6 |
Wk 7 |
Wk 8 |
Wk 9 |
Wk 10 |
Wk 11 |
Wk 12 |
Wk 13 |
Wk 14 |
Wk 15 |
Wk 16 |
Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Soccer[3] | 7 | 16 | NV | NV | None Released | |||||||||||||
| TopDrawer Soccer [4] | 8 | 8 | 6 | NV | NV | |||||||||||||
2020 MLS SuperDraft
| Player | Round | Pick | Position | MLS club | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Nielsen | 1 | 23 | DF | Atlanta United | |
| Michael Wetungu | 2 | 46 | DF | Real Salt Lake |
References
- "2019 Men's Soccer Roster". Michigan State University Athletics. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- "Indiana Claims First Place in Men's Soccer Preseason Poll". bigten.org. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. Retrieved May 15, 2018.