June 10, 2008

2008 Printable Men's Soccer Schedule

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Seven home matches and a weekend trip to perennial power New Mexico highlight the 2008 Michigan State men's soccer schedule. The Spartans will christen the new DeMartin Soccer Complex at Old College Field Friday, Aug. 29 versus St. Francis (PA) as part of the MSU/Radisson Fall Classic, and will conclude the regular season at home Sunday, Nov. 2 against Northwestern. MSU head men's soccer coach Joe Baum made the announcementTuesday, June 10.

Baum's 32nd season at the helm of the Spartan soccer program begins with the contest against St. Francis (9-9-2 in 2007) before concluding the MSU-Radisson Fall Classic against Vermont (9-10-3) on Sunday, Aug. 31. Michigan State defeated Vermont, 2-1, in double overtime last season. The victory was Baum's 300th at Michigan State.

The Spartans then travel to New Mexico Sept. 5-7 for a tournament featuring matches against the Lobos (12-5-2) and UC-Davis (12-5-3). MSU defeated New Mexico, 1-0, in 2006 when the Lobos were the No. 3 team in the country. Michigan State's third and final regular season tournament is the following weekend (Sept. 12-14) at Michigan. MSU will take on Buffalo (10-7-2) Friday, Sept. 12 before playing Horizon League champion UIC (13-6-6) two days later.

Baum's squad opens Big Ten play at 2007 national runner-up Ohio State (17-4-5) Sunday, Sept. 21. The contest in Columbus starts a four-match road swing for Michigan State, who will travel to Western Michigan (7-10-2), Penn State (7-8-4) and Summit League champion Oakland (12-7-3) before hosting Wisconsin Sunday, Oct. 5. MSU will not play at home during the month of September.

MSU travels to Notre Dame (14-5-5) on Wednesday, Oct. 8 in a rematch of last season's 1-0 Spartan victory. The Fighting Irish were ranked third in the nation when the Spartans defeated them last October at Old College Field. Michigan State hosts Big Ten regular season champ Indiana (13-4-5) Sunday, Oct. 12 before traveling to Michigan (10-7-2) for the season's only Saturday match on Oct. 18.

Michigan State then plays three non-conference matches, hosting Cincinnati (9-10-1) and Valparaiso (4-11-3) before a road contest at Bowling Green (6-10-3). The Spartans went 1-1-1 against those three teams last season.

After the home finale against Northwestern (12-5-3), the Spartans will compete in the 2008 Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship at Wisconsin. MSU hosted the tournament last year.

The 2008 campaign will be the first in the new soccer complex, which was made possible by a donation from Doug and Valerie DeMartin.

Michigan State finished 12-6-4 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in seven seasons. Seventeen letterwinners and six starters return for the Spartans, who have had eight consecutive winning seasons.