Freshman midfielder Spencer Thompson woke up last Monday as an MSU freshman midfielder with no goals to his name.
He woke up a week later as SoccerAmerica.com’s national collegiate player of the week.
Thompson, Austin lead No. 19 MSU
Freshman midfielder Spencer Thompson works his way around a Notre Dame defender Oct. 10 at Old College Field.
Thompson, who also was named the Big Ten’s offensive player of the week for his performances at Notre Dame and Michigan, said his rapid ascension came completely out of the blue.
“It’s exciting, but I don’t know, the (Notre Dame goal) wasn’t just from me,” Thompson said. “And at Michigan everyone stepped up. Doug (DeMartin) got the first two, and the rest just helped in us getting the win.”
MSU head coach Joe Baum said Thompson was deserving of the award because he scored the game-winning goal against then No. 3 Notre Dame and drew the penalty that resulted in a DeMartin penalty kick against U-M — also a game-winning goal.
“I think he just feels good that he’s helping his team,” Baum said. “We sure appreciate it. It’s not so much that he won the award, it’s that he’s helping us get big wins.”
Thompson also scored a goal of his own against U-M, but was injured shortly after and might miss tonight’s game against Oakland.
The Spartans have an additional award-winner on their roster.
Senior goalkeeper Chris Austin won the Big Ten’s defensive player of the week award for keeping Notre Dame and the Wolverines off the scoreboard.
“He’s been incredible,” Baum said. “All we ever ask of our goalie is to just be solid. He’s been beyond solid,”
Baum added that Austin’s performance his senior year has been “storybook.”
“He was a backup for three years and he didn’t play,” he said. “But he trained every day, did all the weight lifting, did all the conditioning and was a great team supporter.”
The Spartans schedule eases up with a game against Oakland today, but Baum said the staff and the players aren’t taking the game lightly.
“In the last five years, our record (against Oakland) is 1-4-0,” Baum said. “I put that on the bulletin board (Monday), we’ve discussed it, and we’re going to talk about it some more.”
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Baum said in previous years the Spartans (9-1-2) played Oakland the game before U-M, which resulted in lack of focus against the Grizzlies. But the team is coming off a 5-0 win against U-M Sunday, and he said nothing else but Oakland should be on their minds.
“We will be psychologically ready to play,” he said.
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