Spartan Soccer Travel to Louisville for Second Round NCAA Tournament Action

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State continues its NCAA Tournament run, traveling to No. 4-seed Louisville on Sunday, Nov. 18 for a second-round matchup. The Spartans are ranked No. 22 this season, while the Cardinals are ranked No. 5.

Michigan State improved to 11-4-4 after a, 2-0, first round win over Louisville on Thursday. As the No. 4 seed Louisville earned a first-round bye. The Cardinals are 11-4-3 this season.

If available, live video and live stats links will be at www.msuspartans.com.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This is the Spartans' eighth NCAA appearance under head coach Damon Rensing. MSU has posted a 9-5-3 record in NCAA Tournament games under his guidance. The Spartans advanced to the Elite Eight in 2013, 2014 and 2017. Overall, MSU has reached the NCAA Tournament 20 times with a 27-14-5 record.

Last season, MSU hosted a pair of NCAA games with wins over the Hokies and the Broncos, respectively. This was the second-straight season that the Spartans hosted an NCAA Tournament game. In Bloomington in the Elite Eight, Michigan State and Indiana drew 1-1, but the Hoosiers advanced to the College Cup, 3-2, on penalty kicks.

In 2016 in the first round, SIU Edwardsville advanced 9-8 on penalty kicks. The teams battled to a 1-1 tie in double overtime, before the Cougars edged the Spartans in the penalty kick round.

DID YOU KNOW?
Senior forward DeJuan Jones was named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award. He and Michigan's Robbie Mertz are the only two members from Big Ten schools to be named finalists. Last season, Jimmy Fiscus was also named a finalist.

SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
Louisville currently sits at 11-4-3 overall and are the No. 4-seed in the 2018 NCAA Championship. The Cardinals defeated three ranked opponents, No. 18 Notre Dame, 1-0, No. 1 Wake Forest, 2-1 in OT and No. 4 North Carolina, 1-0, in the ACC Tournament to win the program's first ACC Championship.

The Spartans are undefeated against the Cardinals as they hold a 3-0-1 all-time series lead. The two schools haven't faced each other since Nov. 24, 2013, where MSU defeated Louisville in East Lansing, 1-0, in a two overtime thriller in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. MSU also has wins in 1994 and 2005.
Louisville is led by Tate Schmitt this season who leads the team is assists (8) and points (18) and is tied for first on the team with five goals. Schmitt scored the game-winning goal against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament to lift the Cardinals to the semi-finals.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
With an assist on the game-winning goal against UIC on Nov. 15, junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone is now tied for fifth on the single-season assist list. Andrew Roff (1994) and Jim Galina (1985) are the other two Spartans to reach 10 assist. Tom Kreft is the all-time leader in single-season assists with 15 in 1968.

BIG TEN STRONG
MSU is one of four Big Ten teams to reach the tournament along with Indiana, Maryland and Michigan. Indiana is the overall No. 2 seed, while Maryland earned the No. 11 seed. Michigan also advanced to the second round, stopping Princeton at home on penalty kicks.

SECOND-HALF SURGE
Michigan State has been a second-half scoring machine this season. The Spartans have scored eight goals in the first half and 22 in the second. Last season, MSU netted 11 in the first and 16 in the final period of regulation.

OFFENSIVE DEFENDERS
This season, the Spartans have been getting offense from more than just their forwards. Defenders Patrick Nielsen and Michael Wetungu have both scored two goals this year and both have one game-winning goal. Fellow defender John Freitag has also added two goals and a game-winning goal. Before losing him to injury, defender Nick Woodruff also added a goal.

POSTSEASON PROS
The Spartans senior class has now made the postseason three out of the last four season, including reaching the Elite Eight last season. Jimmy Hague, Ryan Sierakowski, Connor Corrigan and Hunter Barone have played in four NCAA Tournament games so far in their careers.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior goalkeeper Jimmy Hague now has 26 career clean sheets in the Spartan Green and White, which now puts alone in second in the Spartan record books, passing Avery Steinlage (2008-10) and John Spink (1984, 86-88). MSU great Zach Bennett (2012-15) is the all-time shutout leader with 35.

MAKING AN IMPACT
This season, the Spartans have had five Spartans earn their first point this season. Freshman forward Farai Mutatu is fifth in scoring with three goals and two assists for eight points. Sophomore Patrick Nielsen had two goals this season. Freshman Jack Beck and redshirt-freshman Nick Woodruff also scored their first goals of their collegiate careers in 2018. Junior Michael Wetungu also captured his first Spartan goal against Akron on Oct. 9.

RYAN'S RISE
MSU senior forward Ryan Sierakowski is rising up the Michigan State all-time scoring charts. He currently has 77 points in 78 games in a MSU uniform, which is good for tied for 10th all-time. He has 31 goals and 15 assists in four seasons. His 31 goals place him alone in eighth, passing with Zdravko Rom (1973-76) who had 30 . He is now tied with Rubens Filizola for 10th (1960-62) with 77 points.

DEFEND DEMARTIN
Michigan State has been solid at home over the last few years. The Spartans were 9-0-2 at home in 2016 and 7-1-2 last season. MSU's only loss came during the Big Ten Tournament last season. In 2018, the Spartans are 6-3-3 at home. Michigan State is 19-3-6 during the regular season in the last three years.

SUPER SIERAKOWSKI
Senior forward Ryan Sierakowski is looking to become the first Spartan to lead the team in points for four-straight seasons. Sierakowski had 17 point as a freshman, 23 as a sophomore and 21 as a junior. He currently is tied for the team lead in scoring with six goals and four assists for 16 points. Junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone has three goals and 10 assists for 16 points.

LAST TIME OUT
Neither snow nor the Flames of UIC could slow down No. 22-ranked Michigan State men's soccer, as the Spartans used a pair of first-half goals from a pair of senior forwards for a 2-0 victory for MSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night at a snowy DeMartin Stadium.

MSU improved to 11-4-4 this season and advances to take on No. 4-seeded Louisville on Sunday, Nov. 18 in Louisville, Kentucky at 5 p.m. UIC ends its season with a 12-6-2 record. The Spartans now hold a 16-3-4 record against the Flames, including 10-1-1 at home.

Michigan State is making its its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years and eighth under head coach Damon Rensing. Overall, the Spartans have been in the NCAA Tournament 20 times, now with a 27-14-5 mark.

Thursday night the Spartans scored in the sixth minute with a goal by senior forward Ryan Sierakowski and the 19th minute from fellow senior forward Hunter Barone. Another Spartan senior forward, DeJuan Jones assisted on both goals, with Barone joining Jones for the assist on Sierakowski's goal.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State is third in the Big Ten in points scored with 96, averaging 5.05 points per game. Indiana is first with 127 for 6.35 ppg. Senior forward Ryan Sierakowski is tied for sixth in goals with five. Sierakowski is tied for third in the league in game-winning goals with three, behind Indiana's Andrew Gutman who has six. Senior goalkeeper Jimmy Hague is tied for second in shutouts with eight. He is also first in save percentage (.841). Hague is second in goals against average (0.65) behind Indiana's Trey Muse (0.55). Junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone is tied for first in the league in assists with 10 in the 19 games.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
This season, Michigan State will have three captains in seniors Connor Corrigan, Jimmy Hague and DeJuan Jones.

BARONE BUNCH
Junior Giuseppe Barone became the fourth member of the Barone family to don the Green and White last season. He joins current Spartan Hunter as well as former MSU players Mark (2008-11) Domenic (2008-12).

RENSING SAYS
"I know they're good, you win the ACC Tournament and you're good. Ken Lolla (Louisville Coach) has been there for a long time, one of the top coaches in the business. They have a good team, they're on a run, they don't give up a lot of goals. It will be difficult, I mean I did peak ahead, it is I think going to be 52 degrees, so you know last time I think we played Louisville in the NCAA tournament it was almost an ice rink back in 2013. We will be excited to go down, it will be a very difficult match, but it will be fun. This is why you come to Michigan State, to play in these types of games."

Spartan Soccer Travel to Louisville for Second Round NCAA Tournament Action

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Players Mentioned

Giuseppe Barone

Hunter Barone

Jack Beck

Connor Corrigan

Jimmy Fiscus

John Freitag

Jimmy Hague

DeJuan Jones

Farai Mutatu

Patrick Nielsen

Ryan Sierakowski

Michael Wetungu

Nick Woodruff