Spartan Soccer Hosts James Madison in Elite Eight Saturday
11/30/2018 3:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer
This is the first meeting between the Spartans and the Dukes.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State has reached the Elite Eight for the second-straight season and will face James Madison on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. After two-straight road games in the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans will return to the friendly confines of DeMartin Stadium. Overall, MSU had reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament four times in the last six seasons.
Michigan State improved to 13-4-4 after a, 1-0, road victory against 13th-seeded Georgetown on Nov. 25. MSU also defeated UIC in the first round at home on Nov. 15, 2-0 and fourth-seeded Louisville on the road in the second round on Nov. 18. James Madison is 15-4-3 with a 3-0 win in the third round against Virginia Tech on the road.
The last time that the Spartans played an Elite Eight game at DeMartin Stadium was in 2014 when MSU fell to Providence, 3-2.
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 10-5-3 record in NCAA Tournament games under his guidance. The Spartans have advanced to the Elite Eight in 2013, 2014, 2017 and now 2018. Overall, MSU has reached the NCAA Tournament 20 times with a 28-14-5 record.
Last season, MSU hosted a pair of NCAA games with wins over the Virginia Tech and the Western Michigan, 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.
OVERTIME
To reach the Sweet 16, the Spartans won their first overtime game of the season. MSU had been 0-3-4 in extra time this season before the 2-1 overtime win against Louisville.
SCOUTING JAMES MADISON
The Dukes tote a 15-4-3 overall record into Saturday's Elite Eight showdown with the Spartans after blanking 12th-seeded Virginia Tech, 3-0, Sunday evening at Blacksburg, Virginia in the round of 16. JMU is unbeaten in its last five games after ending regular-season action with a 2-0 win over William & Mary and a 1-1 draw with Hofstra, then opening NCAA action with a 3-0 win at home over High Point before upsetting fifth-seeded North Carolina, 2-1, and then the upset win over Virginia Tech.
JMU is making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2014. The Dukes are 7-12-1 all-time in the tournament, reaching the Elite Eight in both 1994 and 1995.
JMU is anchored by its defense, as the Dukes are No. 3 in the NCAA in team goals against average (0.48) and No. 6 in shutout percentage (.591), posting 13 clean sheets on the season and only allowing 11 goals overall. Sophomore goalkeeper TJ Bush is No. 3 in the nation in shutouts with 13, along with No. 4 in goals against average (0.478) and No. 2 in goalie minutes played (2,072:24). Bush is also 15th in save percentage (.823), playing behind a staunch backline, as he has had to make only 51 saves on the season, ranking 135th in the country.
Offensively, the Dukes are 30th in scoring offense, with 1.77 goals per game, netting 39 goals on the season with 16 in the first half and 23 in the second. Junior midfielder Manuel Ferriol leads the Dukes with 23 points in 19 games, netting nine goals to go with five assists. Ferriol is 52nd in the NCAA in points per game (1.28). Senior forward Aaron Ward-Baptiste and sophomore forward Carson Jeffris add 19 points apiece, with Ward-Baptiste tallying seven goals and five assists, while Jeffris has eight goals and three assists.
Ward-Baptiste and Ferriol were recognized as national players of the week for their performances in the Dukes' first and second round matches, with Ward-Baptiste being named National Player of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer for his goal and assist in the win over High Point and the game-winning goal in the upset of North Carolina.
MSU VS. JMU SERIES HISTORY
Saturday is the first -ever meeting between the Spartans and Dukes on the soccer pitch. While MSU and JMU have never met in men's soccer, they've also never met in a majority of sports that Michigan State and James Madison have in common, only meeting in field hockey (MSU leads, 5-1-1, first meeting in 1998 and last meeting in 2010) and women's tennis (JMU leads, 1-0).
FAMILIAR FACES
Three of the eight teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament are Big Ten teams with No. 2-seeded Indiana and No. 11-seeded Maryland moving on as well. Overall, the Spartans have played four of the Elite Eight teams with a loss to Akron and a win against Notre Dame in the regular season. Overall, MSU is 2-3 against the remaining teams, going 1-1 vs. the Terps and 0-1 vs. the Hoosiers. Maryland will take on No. 3-seeded Kentucky, while No. 2-seeded Indiana will face No. 7-seeded Notre Dame.
BARONE NAMED HERMANN TROPHY SEMIFINALIST
Michigan State junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone was named a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy. He is one of 15 semifinalist including four from the Big Ten, along with Indiana's Trey Muse and Andrew Gutman and Michigan's Jack Hallahan. Barone is the first Spartan to earn this accolade since fellow midfielder Jay Chapman in 2014. The junior from Kentwood, Michigan was also the first Spartan since Chapman to be named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. Barone also garnered first-team All-Big Ten honors. He is second in the league with 10 assists. Barone is second on the team in scoring with three goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
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.
DID YOU KNOW?
Senior Jimmy Hague is ninth in the nation in shutouts (9) and 11th in goals against average (0.64).
RAISING THE BAR
This is the third-straight season that Michigan State has reach the 13-win mark. MSU is looking to reach 14 wins for the first time since the 2013 season, when MSU was 14-6-3. The Spartans also reached the Elite Eight that season.
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 three goals and two 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 27 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. He also has 39 career wins, just behind Bennett who leads MSU with 43 career wins.
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 78 points in 80 games in a MSU uniform, which is good for tied for 10th all-time. He has 31 goals and 16 assists in four seasons. His 31 goals place him alone in eighth, passing with Zdravko Rom (1973-76) who had 30 . He is now alone in 10th place, passing Rubens Filizola (1960-62) with 78 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 points as a freshman, 23 as a sophomore and 21 as a junior. He currently is first on the team in scoring with six goals and five assists for 17 points. Junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone has three goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State men's soccer returns to the Elite Eight for the second-straight season after a 1-0 win against 13th-seeded Georgetown. With less than a minute remaining in the first half, sophomore midfielder Michael Miller picked an ideal time for his first goal of the season to give Michigan State the 1-0 advantage. The sequence started with a pass near midfield from junior defender Michael Pimlott. Miller took the ball and deposited the long-distance shot to the lower right corner.
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).
Michigan State improved to 13-4-4 after a, 1-0, road victory against 13th-seeded Georgetown on Nov. 25. MSU also defeated UIC in the first round at home on Nov. 15, 2-0 and fourth-seeded Louisville on the road in the second round on Nov. 18. James Madison is 15-4-3 with a 3-0 win in the third round against Virginia Tech on the road.
The last time that the Spartans played an Elite Eight game at DeMartin Stadium was in 2014 when MSU fell to Providence, 3-2.
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 10-5-3 record in NCAA Tournament games under his guidance. The Spartans have advanced to the Elite Eight in 2013, 2014, 2017 and now 2018. Overall, MSU has reached the NCAA Tournament 20 times with a 28-14-5 record.
Last season, MSU hosted a pair of NCAA games with wins over the Virginia Tech and the Western Michigan, 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.
OVERTIME
To reach the Sweet 16, the Spartans won their first overtime game of the season. MSU had been 0-3-4 in extra time this season before the 2-1 overtime win against Louisville.
SCOUTING JAMES MADISON
The Dukes tote a 15-4-3 overall record into Saturday's Elite Eight showdown with the Spartans after blanking 12th-seeded Virginia Tech, 3-0, Sunday evening at Blacksburg, Virginia in the round of 16. JMU is unbeaten in its last five games after ending regular-season action with a 2-0 win over William & Mary and a 1-1 draw with Hofstra, then opening NCAA action with a 3-0 win at home over High Point before upsetting fifth-seeded North Carolina, 2-1, and then the upset win over Virginia Tech.
JMU is making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2014. The Dukes are 7-12-1 all-time in the tournament, reaching the Elite Eight in both 1994 and 1995.
JMU is anchored by its defense, as the Dukes are No. 3 in the NCAA in team goals against average (0.48) and No. 6 in shutout percentage (.591), posting 13 clean sheets on the season and only allowing 11 goals overall. Sophomore goalkeeper TJ Bush is No. 3 in the nation in shutouts with 13, along with No. 4 in goals against average (0.478) and No. 2 in goalie minutes played (2,072:24). Bush is also 15th in save percentage (.823), playing behind a staunch backline, as he has had to make only 51 saves on the season, ranking 135th in the country.
Offensively, the Dukes are 30th in scoring offense, with 1.77 goals per game, netting 39 goals on the season with 16 in the first half and 23 in the second. Junior midfielder Manuel Ferriol leads the Dukes with 23 points in 19 games, netting nine goals to go with five assists. Ferriol is 52nd in the NCAA in points per game (1.28). Senior forward Aaron Ward-Baptiste and sophomore forward Carson Jeffris add 19 points apiece, with Ward-Baptiste tallying seven goals and five assists, while Jeffris has eight goals and three assists.
Ward-Baptiste and Ferriol were recognized as national players of the week for their performances in the Dukes' first and second round matches, with Ward-Baptiste being named National Player of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer for his goal and assist in the win over High Point and the game-winning goal in the upset of North Carolina.
MSU VS. JMU SERIES HISTORY
Saturday is the first -ever meeting between the Spartans and Dukes on the soccer pitch. While MSU and JMU have never met in men's soccer, they've also never met in a majority of sports that Michigan State and James Madison have in common, only meeting in field hockey (MSU leads, 5-1-1, first meeting in 1998 and last meeting in 2010) and women's tennis (JMU leads, 1-0).
FAMILIAR FACES
Three of the eight teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament are Big Ten teams with No. 2-seeded Indiana and No. 11-seeded Maryland moving on as well. Overall, the Spartans have played four of the Elite Eight teams with a loss to Akron and a win against Notre Dame in the regular season. Overall, MSU is 2-3 against the remaining teams, going 1-1 vs. the Terps and 0-1 vs. the Hoosiers. Maryland will take on No. 3-seeded Kentucky, while No. 2-seeded Indiana will face No. 7-seeded Notre Dame.
BARONE NAMED HERMANN TROPHY SEMIFINALIST
Michigan State junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone was named a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy. He is one of 15 semifinalist including four from the Big Ten, along with Indiana's Trey Muse and Andrew Gutman and Michigan's Jack Hallahan. Barone is the first Spartan to earn this accolade since fellow midfielder Jay Chapman in 2014. The junior from Kentwood, Michigan was also the first Spartan since Chapman to be named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. Barone also garnered first-team All-Big Ten honors. He is second in the league with 10 assists. Barone is second on the team in scoring with three goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
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.
DID YOU KNOW?
Senior Jimmy Hague is ninth in the nation in shutouts (9) and 11th in goals against average (0.64).
RAISING THE BAR
This is the third-straight season that Michigan State has reach the 13-win mark. MSU is looking to reach 14 wins for the first time since the 2013 season, when MSU was 14-6-3. The Spartans also reached the Elite Eight that season.
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 three goals and two 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 27 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. He also has 39 career wins, just behind Bennett who leads MSU with 43 career wins.
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 78 points in 80 games in a MSU uniform, which is good for tied for 10th all-time. He has 31 goals and 16 assists in four seasons. His 31 goals place him alone in eighth, passing with Zdravko Rom (1973-76) who had 30 . He is now alone in 10th place, passing Rubens Filizola (1960-62) with 78 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 points as a freshman, 23 as a sophomore and 21 as a junior. He currently is first on the team in scoring with six goals and five assists for 17 points. Junior midfielder Giuseppe Barone has three goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State men's soccer returns to the Elite Eight for the second-straight season after a 1-0 win against 13th-seeded Georgetown. With less than a minute remaining in the first half, sophomore midfielder Michael Miller picked an ideal time for his first goal of the season to give Michigan State the 1-0 advantage. The sequence started with a pass near midfield from junior defender Michael Pimlott. Miller took the ball and deposited the long-distance shot to the lower right corner.
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).
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