EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 8-seeded State men's soccer will face top-seeded Penn State on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network with Dan Kelly and Patrick Doody on the call.
After a 3-1 loss at Northwestern on Oct. 31, the Spartans stand 6-8-2 overall this season. Penn State captured the Big Ten regular-season title and are 10-6-1 entering postseason. Earlier this season, the Nittany Lions topped the Spartans, 1-0, on Oct. 1.
PLAYING THE BEST
This week, the Spartans now have the eighth-toughest strength of schedule in the nation. Only Oregon State, Stanford and Virginia are the top three teams in the nation. Michigan State has the toughest strength of schedule in the Big Ten. MSU also has the fifth-best RPI in the league (No. 45), behind Indiana (No. 16), Maryland (No. 18), Penn State (No. 29) and Michigan (No. 39).
THANK YOU SPARTAN NATION
Michigan State was thrilled to have fans back in the stands this season. After the completion of the regular season, the Spartans are No. 13 in the country in attendance, averaging 1,580 fans per game. Only Maryland (2,571) and Indiana (2,230) have higher averages in the Big Ten. Overall, 14,219 people have packed DeMartin Stadium this season.
B1G TOURNEY NOTES
This is the first time that the Spartans and the Nittany Lions have met in the Big Ten Tournament since MSU earned a 2-1 win in East Lansing in 2016. The last two seasons Michigan State has ended its season with losses to in-state rivals Michigan on the road in the quarterfinals.
STOPPING THE STREAK
Michigan State is looking to stop a two-game losing streak that has plagued the end of the regular season. MSU lost on the road to No. 7 Maryland 3-1 on Oct. 22 and on the road to Northwestern on Oct. 31 by a matching 3-1 score.
QUITE THE COMBO
Seniors
Farai Mutatu and
Jack Beck have been quite the scoring combination this season. The seven goals scored by Mutatu are the most by a Spartan since Ryan Sierakowski scored eight in 2018. Beck's seven assists are the most by an MSU player since All-American Giuseppe Barone had 10 helpers in 2018.
GETTING IN THE GAME
Five Spartans have started all 16 games this season, including
Farai Mutatu,
Jack Beck,
Michael Miller,
Will Perkins and
Nick Stone. Perkins and Stone lead the way in minutes played with 1,448 and 1,486, respectively. Twenty-one different Spartans have started at least one game.
SPARTANS VS THE BIG TEN
Senior forward
Farai Mutatu is tied for third in the league in goals with seven along Penn State's Andrew Privett. He added to his goal count with against Norhtwestern on Oct. 31. The seven goals was the most by a Spartan since Ryan Sierakowski scored eight in 2018.
Senior midfielder
Jack Beck continues to have stellar season for the Spartans. Beck is tied for first in the league in the assists with seven along with Penn State's Seth Kuhn and Northwestern's Vincente Castro.
LOOKING AT THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State leads the overall series with Michigan State, 24-17-2. The Spartans have had control of the series recently, winning five of the last seven. The two blemishes in the last seven meetings are a 3-0 PSU victory at home in 2019 and a 1-0 Nittany Lion win on a goal in the 87th minute over the 10-man Spartans.
Sunday is the 14th postseason meeting between the two pioneer land-grant institutions and the first since 2016 in East Lansing. PSU leads the B1G Tournament meetings, 8-4-1, with MSU advancing on PKs, 5-4, in the lone tie in 2007. The Spartans also have a 1-0 edge in B1G Tournament meetings in University Park, as MSU won 1-0 in 2014.
Top-seeded Penn State brings a 10-6-1 overall record into Sunday's first-round match after earning the No. 1 seed in the B1G Tournament, winning the regular-season title with a 6-2-0 B1G mark, PSU's first conference crown since 2013 and the Nittany Lions' sixth B1G title. Penn State finished the regular season winning five of the last eight matches, ending winning the last two matches after a three-match losing skein, which came on the heels of a three-match win streak.
In this season's regular-season meeting, MSU played with 10-men from the 57th minute after a red card, but PSU scored late for a 1-0 win.
In MSU's last visit to University Park, MSU pulled off the upset against No. 20 Penn State on the road, 1-0.
Jack Beck found the back of the net in the 87th minute for MSU with an assist from
Michael Miller. After Beck took the corner kick, the ball was deflected back and forth, before Miller controlled it and lofted a nice pass over the PSU defense to Beck, who chipped in a shot that originally bounced off the post, but quickly off a PSU defender and into the goal. Beck's goal would go on to be the game-winning goal.
The Nittany Lions have four players with double-digit points, led by Andrew Privett with 18 points on a team-best seven goals and four assists. Peter Mangione adds 14 points on six goals and two assists, followed by Seth Kuhn's 13 points on three goals and team-leading seven helpers, and Daniel Bloyou rounds out the double-digit quartet with 12 points on three goals and six assists. Goalkeeper Kris Shakes has a 1.07 GAA with 47 saves for a .758 save percentage, notching four clean sheets.
MUTATU AND BECK EARN ALL-B1G HONORS
Michigan State seniors
Farai Mutatu and
Jack Beck earned Big Ten postseason awards, as announced by the league Friday.
Beck and Mutatu both captured first-team All-Big Ten honors. This is the second-straight season that the duo earned All-Big Ten accolades. Both were named to the first team for the first time after capturing second-team honors last season. Beck and Mutatu also earned All-Freshman Team accolades in 2018.
Beck, a native of DeWitt, Michigan, was named to the first team. He is one of only two Spartans to start all 16 games. Beck leads the team with seven assists and is second in points with one goal and seven assists for nine points. The seven assists is tied for first in the league with Penn State's Seth Kuhn and Northwestern's Vincente Castro.
Mutatu, who hails from Haslett, Michigan, finished the regular season tied for third in goals scored with Penn State's Andrew Privett with seven. He was also fifth in the Big Ten in points per game, averaging 1.06 ppg. Mutatu was one of just five Spartans to have start all 16 games. His biggest highlight of the season was a hat trick in a come-from-behind win against Notre Dame on Sept. 14.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State men's soccer fell to Northwestern in its regular-season finale, 3-1, Sunday in Evanston, Illinois.
In the 15th minute, the Spartans found the equalizer thanks to senior forward
Farai Mutatu. The play started with a long pass from the left side from senior midfielder
Michael Miller, who found the foot of Mutatu for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
FINDING THE BACK OF THE NET
So far this season, 11 different Spartans have found the back of the net. Against Ohio State on Oct. 17, sophomore midfielder
Vedad Kovac scored his first collegiate. Senior
Farai Mutatu leads the team in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Fellow senior
Michael Miller and redshirt-junior
Will Perkins are tied for second in goals scored with two.
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
The Spartan have named four captains this season. Leading MSU will be seniors
Jack Beck,
Michael Miller,
Farai Mutatu and
Will Perkins.
BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31
O: Tommy Mihalic, Fr., IU
D: Oren Asher, Jr., RU
Sept. 7
O: Ben Bender, So., UMD
D: Oren Asher, Jr., RU
Sept. 14
O: Nico Rosamilia, Fr., RU
D: Daniel Munie, Jr., IND
Sept. 21
O:
Farai Mutatu, Sr., MSU
D: Keagan McLaughlin, Sr., OSU
Sept. 28
O: Kevin Buca, Sr., MICH
O: Peter Mangione, So., PSU
D: Zach Klancnik, Sr., WIS
Oct. 5
O: Evan Rasmussen, Jr., MICH
D: Oren Asher, Jr., RU
Oct. 12
O: Daniel Bloyou, Sr., PSU
D: Daniel Munie, Jr., IND
Oct. 19
O: Daniel Bloyou, Sr., PSU
D: Roman Cel, Jr., IND
Oct. 26
O: Laurence Wootton, So., OSU
D: Daniel Munie, Jr., IND
Nov. 2
O: Seth Kuhn, Sr., PSU
D: Ryan Blumberg, Sr., MD
