EAST LANSING, Mich. – The No. 3 seed Michigan State Spartans (12-4-6) men's soccer team will face off at home against the No. 11 seed Providence Friars (15-4-2) in the NCAA Elite Eight National Tournament this Saturday, December 6th at Noon.
The stage is set at DeMartin Stadium for a full 90 minute, or longer, showdown between the Big East Champion Friars and the last remaining Big Ten team Spartans who have been undefeated (2-0-5) against Top 25 teams.
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The Spartans will have the advantage of being on their home field and that they have been to "the dance" before being back in the Elite 8 again, this being the third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and in the history of matchups with Providence, have come out 2-0-0.
Head Coach Damon Rensing's team also has an arsenal of talent to be revered starting with Hermann Trophy seminfinalist and All-Big Ten Senior MF Jay Chapman, along with premier defending Senior MF Fatai Alashe, who was named to the Big-Ten All-Tournament team, and not to mention the solid back line along with Junior GK Zach Bennett, who broke the school record on shutouts and the team has recorded 13 clean sheets.
The Spartans also have a full house with players like Jason Stacy, the leading scorer with 4 goals and 7 assists, to Academic All-American Ryan Keener, Adam Montague, Brad Centala, and Zach Carroll, who is tied in goals scored at five alongside Tim Kreutz, who tallied the tying goal assisted by Carroll against Washington. Each player has contributed in their own stand out ways to get to where they are today. The entire starting lineup and many on the bench have shown that this is a true Sparty team effort and that in itself makes it hard for any opponent to focus in on just one area when preparing to compete against State.
Providence comes in with their own assets for the Spartans to be wary of which includes the emotional and adrenaline high the Friars are on with winning the Big East for the first time ever and advancing to the Final Eight for the first time under 3rd season Head Coach Craig Stewart. The Friars are also coming into this match with a 5 game winning streak lifting them up and can boost to only allowing 2 goals so far in the tournament, however, Michigan State will be the toughest team so far for them to face.
The Friars know that this will be a full 90 plus minute effort and with shutouts again Dartmouth and U.C. Irvine, they have worked hard to be prepared for Saturday. Providence also has quite a few players that have made impressions on the opponents with many goals and assists tallied including leading goal scorer with 10 goals, Markus Naglestad. Naglestad actually scored four of the five goals against Rhode Island earlier in the season which broke the NCAA Division 1 record with how fast three of the goals came within each other. They also bring to the match plenty that have racked up the goals for Providence such as Mac Steeves, Fabio Machaldo and Julian Gressel and holding the defensive fort is RS Senior GK Keasel Broome as their netminder with a career .767 save percentage in playoff games. They have the most wins in their school history with 15 and also receiving the first Big East Tournament team Offensive and Defensive MVPs.
Providence has fought hard to get to this stage but State has persevered through adversity as well and shown how they can keep a level head despite being down or faced with a tough situation in which others may fold or show their hand.
"Our guys were special today", Coach Rensing explained after the win against Washington in the PK shootout that "It wasn't about the coaching staff, the assistants, myself, it was about the character of the players on the field and they never gave up. When you are down 2-0 there are a lot of ways you can go and it was about the character of these 28 guys. Once we got that first goal, you could feel the momentum changing and our guys stayed composed and kept going."
Michigan State's 6th year Coach went on that "When you get to penalty kicks, it is the toughtest thing I think in soccer, is losing or advancing in penalty kicks. But again, it comes down to character. I am very proud of our team and proud that we are able to represent the Big Ten in the group of Elite Eight."
Michigan State is looking to come out strong on Saturday and allow their game to be played and move on to the NCAA Division I College Cup Final Four but will have to endure the Friars looking to upset their plans and steal the show. Whatever Providence has to bring, State is ready to keep that level head and strong character by relying on their coaching, experience, talent, and displaying how "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." Epictetus (c.AD 55-c.135)
The Spartans plan to react against any obstacles the Friars bring and give fans, including their loyal Red Cedar Rowdies, the type of NCAA Division I Elite Eight match they deserve and hopefully move on with a win Saturday in East Lansing.
Michigan State kickoff is at Noon Saturday Dec 6th at DeMartin Stadium in East Lansing.
A generous men's soccer donor has paid for the FIRST 200 students on Saturday with student ID.
PARKING NOTICE: please park in IM West Lot 62E. This will be a paid lot. NO PARKING AT JENISON FIELD HOUSE!
For those that cannot make the match they can follow along Live HERE.