Flietstra, Steinlage Honored by Big Ten
10/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 18, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's and women's soccer teams are both celebrating players who are honored by the Big Ten Conference this week. Junior goalkeeper Jill Flietstra (Hudsonville, Mich.) and senior goalie Avery Steinlage (Grand Haven, Mich.) were each given the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award as announced by the Conference office.
Flietstra posted back-to-back shutouts last week, extending her shutout streak to five matches en route to her third Defensive Player of the Week accolade of the season. The junior notched six saves against Oakland in a 2-0 Michigan State win on Thursday (Oct. 14) before making another six stops in a 1-0 defeat of Northwestern on Sunday (Oct. 17). The Spartan keeper owns a shutout streak of 540:28, and has allowed just one goal since Sept. 5.
Flietstra's 11th shutout of the year keeps her at number one in the Big Ten in that category and in shutouts per game (.79). She is also second-best in save percentage (.903), saves (65), and saves per game (4.64) and is in third place for her GAA of .48. She is also one shutout shy of tying the all-time MSU single-season record of 11, set by Nicole Galus in 2005. Flietstra and the Spartans have not allowed a goal in the squad's seven games at DeMartin Stadium this season.
On the way to his second weekly accolade of the season, Steinlage racked up over 146 scoreless minutes in net last week. The redshirt senior made six saves in 77 scoreless minutes against Western Michigan, helping the 21st-ranked Spartans pick up a 5-0 victory on Wednesday (Oct.14). The senior added to his scoreless week with 69 shutout minutes against Wisconsin on Sunday (Oct. 17), making one save in the 3-0 win. Steinlage lowered his goals-against average to 0.98, good for third in the Big Ten, also taking over the top spot in the conference in saves (60).
With another shared shutout versus Wisconsin, Avery Steinlage moved up to third in the conference in goals against average (.98), and maintained the second place spot for save percentage (.833), saves per game (4.62), and shutouts (4). The senior is also the number one goalie in saves with 60 so far this year.
No. 21 MSU men's soccer will travel to Bowling Green on Wednesday (Oct. 20) before returning home to face Big Ten rival Indiana on Sunday (Oct. 24). The games begin at 4:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively.
Michigan State women's soccer will be on the road this weekend when they take on the Badgers of Wisconsin on Friday (Oct. 22) at 8:00 p.m. in Madison, Wisc. The Spartans will then head to Minneapolis on Sunday (Oct. 24) at 2:00 p.m. to play Minnesota.
