Seven Spartans Honored with Postseason Honors; Giuseppe Barone Named Midfielder of the Year

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Seven different Michigan State men's soccer players were honored when the Big Ten postseason awards were announced by the league Friday.

Junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone became the first Spartan to earn Big Ten Midfielder of the Year honors, since Jay Chapman in 2014. Barone was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2016.

Barone, a native of Kentwood, Michigan, has been the leader of the Spartan midfield, starting every game this season. He leads the team in scoring with three goals and nine assists for 15 points. His nine assists are second in the Big Ten behind Indiana's Trevor Swartz.

The midfielder was also one of two Spartans named to the first-team All-Big Ten squad, along with sophomore defender Patrick Nielsen. This is the first all-conference honor for both Barone and Nielsen. Michigan State has had at least one first-team selection every season since 1999.

Nielsen, who hails from Copenhagen, Denmark, is in his first season with Michigan State after transferring from Cincinnati. He has had an immediate impact, starting all 17 games. He leads the team in minutes played, logging in over 1,600. Nielsen is part of the Spartan defense that has allowed only 12 goals in 17 games this season.

Junior forwards Ryan Sierakowski and DeJuan Jones both earned second-team honors for the second-consecutive season. Sierakowski also earned first-team honors in 2016 and was named to the All-Freshman team after his rookie campaign. Senior goalkeeper Jimmy Hague also earned second-team honors. This was his third-straight honor after capturing first-team honors as a junior and second-team honors as a sophomore.

Sierakowski, a native of McHenry, Illinois, is second on the team in scoring with five goals and four assists for 14 points. Jones, a local product of Lansing, Michigan, is third on the team in scoring with four goals and three assists for 13 points. Sierakowski also has two game-winning goals.

Hague, who hails from Walled Lake, Michigan, is tied for third in the Big Ten in shutouts with seven. He is also second in the league in goals against average (0.67), while being first in league in save percentage (.826), as well.

The Spartans also added two on the All-Freshman Team with defender Jack Beck and forward Farai Mutatu being honored. The last time MSU had more than two people on the All-Freshman Team was 2016, when Barone, Michael Pimlott and Michael Wetungu were honored.

Michigan's Jack Hallahan was named Offensive Player of the Year, while Indiana's Andrew Gutman captured Defensive Player of the Year. Indiana's Trey Muse was the Goalkeeper of the Year with Barone taking Midfielder of the Year honors. IU's Jack Maher was the Freshman of the Year, while Indiana's Todd Yeagley was named Coach of the Year.

The Big Ten also recognized nine Sportsmanship Award honorees. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Senior defender Connor Corrigan earned the Sportsmanship Award for the Spartans.

The fourth-seeded Spartans take on fifth-seeded Maryland in the its third-straight Big Ten Tournament game in East Lansing on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. Michigan State is currently 10-3-4 this season and ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

2018 Men's Soccer All-Big Ten Teams
First Team
Forward
Jack Hallahan, Michigan*
Jordan Hall, Rutgers
Griffin Dorsey, Indiana

Midfield
Francesco Moore, Indiana*
Giuseppe Barone, Michigan State
Robbie Mertz, Michigan
Amar Sejdic, Maryland

Defense
Andrew Gutman, Indiana*
Patrick Nielsen, Michigan State
Donovan Pines, Maryland

Goalkeeper
Trey Muse, Indiana*

Second Team^
Forward
Ryan Sierakowski, Michigan State
Justin Rennicks, Indiana
Umar Farouk Osman, Michigan
DeJuan Jones, Michigan State

Midfield
Trevor Swartz, Indiana
Mitch Guitar, Wisconsin
Aaron Molloy, Penn State

Defense
Rece Buckmaster, Indiana
Robin Olofsson, Wisconsin
Marcello Borges, Michigan
Timmy Mehl, Indiana

Goalkeeper
Jimmy Hague

Freshman Team
Jack Maher, Indiana*
Andrew Akindele, Wisconsin*
Farai Mutatu, Michigan State*
Richie Bennett, Northwestern*
Jeremy Rafanello, Penn State*
Noah Melick, Wisconsin*
William James Herve, Maryland*
Jack Beck, Michigan State
Devyn Etling, Ohio State
Thomas DeVizio, Rutgers
Zach Klancnik, Wisconsin

Offensive Player of the Year
Jack Hallahan, Michigan

Midfielder of the Year
Giuseppe Barone, Michigan State

Defensive Player of the Year
Andrew Gutman, Indiana*

Goalkeeper of the Year
Trey Muse, Indiana*

Freshman of the Year
Jack Maher, Indiana

Coach of the Year
Todd Yeagley, Indiana*

*Unanimous selection
^additional honorees due to ties in voting

Sportsmanship Award
Jeremiah Gutjahr, Sr., Indiana
Andrew Samuels, Sr., Maryland
Peter Brown, Sr., Michigan
Connor Corrigan, Sr., Michigan State
Robbie White, Sr., Northwestern
Brady Blackwell, Sr., Ohio State
Austin Maloney, Sr., Penn State
Thomas Dovell, Sr., Rutgers
Isaac Schlenker, Sr., Wisconsin

Seven Spartans Honored with Postseason Honors; Giuseppe Barone Named Midfielder of the Year

Players Mentioned

Giuseppe Barone

Jack Beck

Connor Corrigan

Jimmy Hague

DeJuan Jones

Farai Mutatu

Patrick Nielsen

Michael Pimlott

Ryan Sierakowski

Michael Wetungu

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