The MSU men’s soccer team had two main objectives coming into this season.
First, they wanted to win the Big Ten regular season title — something that had never been done in the program’s history.
Rested Spartans await Big Ten Tournament
Northwestern defender Mark Blades and sophomore midfielder Jeff Ricondo jump to head the ball in the second half at DeMartin Stadium in Old College Field Sunday afternoon.
The squad checked that one off the list Nov. 2 when they defeated Northwestern 1-0.
The second goal was to win the Big Ten Tournament and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where anything can happen, as MSU head coach Joe Baum said.
The Spartans (11-5-1 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) will get their first crack at their second goal Friday when they face the winner of the Penn State vs. Northwestern game in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament at Wisconsin.
Baum said his team has a big advantage in the conference tournament after earning a first-round bye, which prevents his team from playing on back-to-back days.
“(The bye) is very important, in that sometimes in your first-round game you go to overtime and you really extend yourself,” Baum said. “You come out that next day and you are physically and emotionally drained.”
Senior defender David Hertel agrees that skipping Thursday’s game will be a big advantage and having fresh legs on Friday might be the difference-maker.
“It’s going to be big that our legs are going to be more rested,” Hertel said. “But even though (the other teams) do play Thursday, I think that every team comes out to play.”
Four of the Spartans’ five regular-season wins over Big Ten opponents came by a single goal, and Hertel said the Spartans are going to have to find a way to win two tough games.
“Anyone you play is going to be a dogfight and it’s going to be a grind-it-out battle,” Hertel said. “Playing anyone in the Big Ten is going to be a tough game.”
Although the Spartans are the No. 1 seed entering the Big Ten Tournament, senior forward Doug DeMartin still believes there is much to gain and a lot for the team to prove.
“I still feel like we think of ourselves as underdogs because of where our program has been,” DeMartin said. “We still have a lot to play for in trying to get a good seed … and maybe playing a (NCAA Tournament) game at home.”
Baum is aware that since his team is the leader of the pack, the Spartans’ Big Ten opponents will be gunning for them. But Baum said he wouldn’t want to be in any other position entering the conference tournament.
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“A lot of people are going to come in and play us with a lot of emotion and a lot of passion, so that’s to their advantage,” Baum said. “But you play to win the Big Ten regular season championship and get the bye.
“We did that, so we are just going to try and take it and go with it.”
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