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
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
2019 record3–11–3 (3–4–1 Big Ten)
Head coachDamon Rensing (11th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Micah Collins (2nd season)
  • Joe Ahearn (1st season)
  • T.J. Kolba (1st season)
Home stadiumDeMartin Stadium
2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW 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
As of 17 December 2019; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: Big Ten

Background
Main article: 2018 Michigan State Spartans men's soccer team

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.

No. Position Player
1 GK Hunter Morse
2 MF Jack Beck
3 DF Patrick Nielsen
4 DF Nick Woodruff
5 MF Michael Pimlott
6 DF Dante Morrissette
7 FW Alaa Algahim
8 MF Alex Shterenberg
9 FW Farai Mutatu
10 MF Giuseppe Barone
11 FW Gianni Ferri
12 DF Nick Stone
13 FW Conner Gorge
No. Position Player
14 DF Olu Ogunwale
15 MF Colton Stanley
16 FW Kellan Landefeld
17 DF Michael Wetungu
18 MF Michael Miller
20 MF Cody Sweatte
21 FW Julian Ajroja
22 DF Will Perkins
24 DF Nate Jefferson
28 DF Karo Azali
29 GK Andrew Nicholson
30 GK Isiah Handspike
32 GK Davis Hooten

Team management
Front office
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
1Indiana
2Maryland
3Michigan
4Michigan State
5Wisconsin
6Penn State
7Northwestern
8Ohio State
9Rutgers

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
Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings
Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.
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

Awards

2020 MLS SuperDraft
Main article: 2020 MLS SuperDraft
PlayerRoundPickPositionMLS clubRef.
Patrick Nielsen123DFAtlanta United
Michael Wetungu246DFReal Salt Lake

References
  1. "2019 Men's Soccer Roster". Michigan State University Athletics. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  2. "Indiana Claims First Place in Men's Soccer Preseason Poll". bigten.org. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  3. "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  4. "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
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