The 2018 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season was the 28th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The regular season began on August 24, 2018, and concluded on October 28, 2018. The season culminated with the 2018 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament to determine the conference's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Michigan entered the season as the defending regular season champions, while Wisconsin entered the season as the defending tournament champions.
Indiana went on to win both the regular season and the tournament, winning all eight of their Big Ten Conference games. They defeated Michigan in the Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship Game.
With the Big Ten title, Indiana earned the conference's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Tournament, where Maryland, Michigan, and Michigan State joined as at-large berths. The conference had the strongest showing in the NCAA Tournament, where three of their four berths reached the College Cup (Final Four) of the tournament. Big Ten side, Maryland, would defeat Akron in the National Championship Game to win their fourth NCAA title, and their first since 2008.
Concluding the tournament, Indiana senior and captain, Andrew Gutman, won the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award as well as the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy. Gutman would forgo an opportunity to sign a homegrown contract with the Chicago Fire and signed with Celtic in Scotland. Indiana sophomore forward, Griffin Dorsey was the highest Big Ten player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, being drafted by Toronto FC ninth overall. Eleven other Big Ten players were selected in the MLS SuperDraft, the most of any collegiate conference, and an additional four signed homegrown player contracts with their parent MLS clubs.
Background
Head coaches
Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school Big Ten record NCAATournaments NCAACollege Cups NCAATitlesIndiana Todd Yeagley Wisconsin 8 9 2 1Maryland Sasho Cirovski Hartford 25 24 8 2Michigan Chaka Daley Providence 6 2 0 0Michigan State Damon Rensing Michigan State (assistant) 9 7 0 0Northwestern Tim Lenahan Lafayette 18 9 0 0Ohio State John Bluem Fresno State 22 9 1 0Penn State Jeff Cook Bethlehem Steel (asst.) 1 0 0 0Rutgers Dan Donigan Saint Louis 9 2 0 0Wisconsin John Trask UIC 9 2 0 0
Preseason
Preseason poll
The preseason poll was released on August 15.
Team ranking 1. Indiana 2. Michigan State 3. Maryland 4. Michigan 5. Wisconsin T-6. Ohio State T-6. Penn State 8. Northwestern 9. Rutgers
Preseason national polls
Five of the programs were ranked in one of the five major preseason polls. CollegeSoccerNews.com and Hero Sports use a Top 30 ranking throughout the season, while United Soccer, Soccer America, and TopDrawer Soccer use a Top 25 ranking throughout the season.
UnitedSoccer CSN HeroSports SoccerAmerica TopDrawerSoccerIndiana 2 2 2 1 5Maryland NR 23 22 16 21Michigan 21 17 28 11 15Michigan State 7 4 10 4 9Northwestern NR NR NR NRNROhio State NR NR NR NRNRPenn State NR NR NR NRNRRutgers NR NR NR NRNRWisconsin 12 26 13 NR 18
Regular season Early season tournaments
Three Big Ten teams participated in four early season tournaments, three of which they themselves hosted.
Team Tournament Finish Indiana adidas/IU Credit Union Classic 1st Northwestern Lakeside Classic 1st Ohio State Dayton Classic 4th Wolstein Classic 3rd
Postseason Big Ten Tournament
The Big Ten Tournament was held from November 3–11. The semifinal and championship rounds were held at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana. Indiana won the Big Ten Tournament, defeating Michigan in the final.
NCAA Tournament
Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship2BloomingtonIndiana W 4–0 vs. Connecticut – (Bloomington, IN) W 2–0 vs. Air Force – (Bloomington, IN) W 1–0 vs. #7 Notre Dame – (Bloomington, IN) L 0–2 vs. #11 Maryland – (Santa Barbara, CA)11LexingtonMaryland W 1–0 vs. NC State – (College Park, MD) W 2–0 vs. #6 Duke – (Durham, NC) W 1–0 vs. #3 Kentucky – (Lexington, KY) W 2–0 vs. #2 Indiana – (Santa Barbara, CA) W 1–0 vs. Akron – (Santa Barbara, CA)—BloomingtonMichigan T 1–1 (W 11–10 PK) vs. Princeton – (Ann Arbor, MI) T 0–0 (L 11–12 PK) vs. #7 Notre Dame – (South Bend, IN)—LouisvilleMichigan State W 2–0 vs. UIC – (East Lansing, MI) W 2–1 (OT) vs. #4 Louisville – (Louisville, KY) W 1–0 vs. #13 Georgetown – (Washington, DC) W 2–1 vs. James Madison– (East Lansing, MI) L 1–5 vs. Akron – (Santa Barbara, CA)W–L–T (%): Total:
Rankings National rankings Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25NVNo votes received Pre Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 FinalIndiana 2 6 4 2222422221None released3 5 5 3 5 22224443311113Maryland RV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV15None released1 21 21 NV NV NVNVNVRVNVNV22RV10108731Michigan 21 NV RV RV2119141618RVRVRVRVNone released24 15 15 NV NV NVNVNV221817RVNVNVNV21212121Michigan State 7 5 3 455138131217RVRVNone released4 9 9 11 13 779161314201719257544Northwestern NV NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone releasedNV NV NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVOhio State NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone releasedNV NV NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVPenn State NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone releasedNV NV NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVRutgers NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone releasedNV NV NV NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVWisconsin 12 RV NV NVNVNVRVRVNVNVNVRVNVNone releasedNV 18 18 NV NV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors Week Offensive Defensive Player Position Team Player Position TeamWeek 1A.J. PalazzoloMFIndianaJimmy HagueGKMichigan StateMiha MiškovićGKNorthwestern Week 2 Andrew Gutman DF Indiana Trey Muse GK Indiana Week 3 DeJuan Jones FW Michigan State Miha Mišković GK NorthwesternWeek 4William HerveMFMarylandJackson RagenDFMichiganWeek 5Ryan SierakowskiFWMichigan StateRyan GallagherDFPenn StateWeek 6Umar Farouk OsmanFWMichiganDean CowdroyGKWisconsinWeek 7Noah MelickFWWisconsinPatrick NielsenDFMichigan StateJosh LevineGKPenn StateWeek 8Andrew GutmanDFIndianaDani MarksDFPenn StateWeek 9Trevor SwartzMFIndianaDean CowdroyGKWisconsinWeek 10Andrew GutmanDFIndianaTrey MuseGKIndiana
Postseason honors 2018 Big Ten Men's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the YearChris Mueller, WisconsinDefensive Player of the YearGrant Lillard, IndianaMidfielder of the YearEryk Williamson, MarylandGoalkeeper of the YearJimmy Hague, Michigan StateCoach of the YearChaka Daley, MichiganFreshman of the YearMason Toye, Indiana
2018 Big Ten Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Honorees Second Team Honorees All-Freshman Team Honorees Sportsmanship Award HonoreesForwards: Chris Mueller, Sr., Wisconsin Mason Toye, Fr., Indiana Jack Hallahan, So., Michigan
Midfield: Eryk Williamson, Jr., Maryland Ken Krolicki, Sr., Michigan State Jake Rozhansky, Sr., Maryland Francesco Moore, Jr., Indiana
Defense: Grant Lillard, Sr., Indiana Jimmy Fiscus, Sr., Michigan State Andrew Gutman, Jr., Indiana
Goalkeeper: Jimmy Hague, Jr., Michigan StateForwards: Griffin Dorsey, Fr., Indiana Francis Atuahene, Jr., Michigan DeJuan Jones, Jr., Michigan State Ryan Sierakowski, Jr., Michigan State
Midfield: Abdi Mohamed, Jr., Ohio State Charles Mertz, Jr., Michigan Mark Segbers, Sr., Wisconsin
Defense: Donovan Pines, So., Maryland Timmy Mehl, Jr., Indiana Marcello Borges, Jr., Michigan
Goalkeeper: Trey Muse, Fr., IndianaMohammed Zakyi, Michigan Marc Ybarra, Michigan Umar Farouk Osman, Michigan Garrett Opperman, Northwestern Ethan Beckford, Penn State Mason Toye, Indiana Griffin Dorsey, Indiana Trey Muse, Indiana Tommy Katsyiannis, Northwestern Vincent Borden, Rutgers Bryce Washington, RutgersJack Griffith, Sr., Indiana Andrew Samuels, Jr., Maryland Tristan Jacob, Sr., Michigan Brad Centala, Sr., Michigan State Francisco Tomasino, Sr., Northwestern Hunter Robertson, Sr., Ohio State Dani Marks, Jr., Penn State Erik Sa, Sr., Rutgers Isaac Schenkler, Jr., Wisconsin
National awards
Award Winner School Ref. Hermann Trophy Andrew Gutman Indiana TDS National POTY Award
2019 MLS draft
Five 2018 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season players were drafted in the first round of the 2018 draft (Griffin Dorsey — 6th, Dayne St. Clair — 7th, DeJuan Jones — 11th, Chase Gaspers — 15th, Ryan Sierakowski — 23rd) and 12 were drafted overall in the draft.
Player Team School16FWToronto FCIndiana (So.)17GKMinnesota UnitedMaryland (Sr.)111MFNew England RevolutionMichigan State (Sr.)115DFNew England RevolutionMaryland (R-Sr.)123FWPortland TimbersMichigan State (Sr.)228DFColorado RapidsMichigan (Jr.)230GKFC CincinnatiMichigan State (R-Sr.)232DFNew York Red BullsIndiana (Sr.)233DFHouston DynamoMaryland (Sr.)234MFMontreal ImpactMaryland (Sr.)371DFPortland TimbersIndiana (Sr.)476MFColorado RapidsMichigan (Jr.)
Homegrown players
The Homegrown Player Rule is a Major League Soccer program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008, every player entering Major League Soccer had to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft.
To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year. Players can play college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract.
Four 2018 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season players signed homegrown contracts with their parent clubs ahead of the 2019 MLS season.
Original MLS team Player SchoolRef. Chicago Fire Indiana (Sr.) D.C. United Maryland (Jr.) New England Revolution Indiana (So.) Seattle Sounders FC Indiana (So.)
References
External links Big Ten Men's Soccer