Men’s soccer advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament after beating the Virginia Tech Hokies Sunday afternoon, 3-0.
The Spartans got their first goal of the afternoon just over four minutes into the game, thanks to forward Ryan Sierakowski, who leads MSU in goals with eight.
Forward and second leading scorer DeJuan Jones, scored his seventh goal of the season about 15 minutes later, giving the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
Defenseman Michael Pimlott added in the third goal of the game and first half, making the Spartans lead three and the final score, 3-0. Midfielder Ken Krolicki also had an assist on each of MSU’s goals.
“One of our weaknesses is we haven’t started great, and I think we rectified that today,” head coach Damon Rensing said. “All in all, probably a little boring for the fans, but we’ll take boring and a 3-0 win and on to the Sweet 16.”
The Spartans will play the Western Michigan Broncos in the Sweet 16 this Saturday at DeMartin Stadium, with the start time at 6 p.m. MSU played the Broncos earlier in the season on Oct. 4 in Kalamazoo, winning 1-0.
This matchup between the two Michigan squads also features a lot of home grown products, with the Spartans having 16 Michiganders while the Broncos have 17.
“I think that says a lot about the state of soccer in the state of Michigan,” Rensing said. “I think it’s a great showcase for soccer in the state of Michigan... and I think Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday night, I think you’re gonna see a good crowd.”
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