# 2018 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season

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

    As of the 2017 season
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | Big Ten record | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA College Cups | NCAA Titles |
| Indiana | Todd Yeagley | Wisconsin | 8 | 109–51–35 (.649) | 102–42–33 (.669) | 27–15–18 (.600) | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| Maryland | Sasho Cirovski | Hartford | 25 | 400–150–56 (.706) | 374–137–49 (.712) | 20–5–7 (.734) | 24 | 8 | 2 |
| Michigan | Chaka Daley | Providence | 6 | 139–160–44 (.469) | 49–49–17 (.500) | 19–18–7 (.511) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan State | Damon Rensing | Michigan State (assistant) | 9 | 103–61–26 (.611) | 103–61–26 (.611) | 27–24–11 (.524) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Northwestern | Tim Lenahan | Lafayette | 18 | 289–200–67 (.580) | 163–131–46 (.547) | 36–55–17 (.412) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio State | John Bluem | Fresno State | 22 | 292–201–70 (.581) | 206–161–58 (.553) | 63–54–13 (.535) | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Penn State | Jeff Cook | Bethlehem Steel (asst.) | 1 | 0–0–0 (–) | 0–0–0 (–) | 0–0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rutgers | Dan Donigan | Saint Louis | 9 | 169–124–37 (.568) | 51–82–15 (.395) | 5–24–3 (.203) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | John Trask | UIC | 9 | 119–90–53 (.555) | 65–66–27 (.497) | 20–26–10 (.446) | 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.
| | United Soccer | CSN | Hero Sports | Soccer America | TopDrawer Soccer |
| Indiana | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Maryland | NR | 23 | 22 | 16 | 21 |
| Michigan | 21 | 17 | 28 | 11 | 15 |
| Michigan State | 7 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 9 |
| Northwestern | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Ohio State | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Penn State | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Rutgers | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Wisconsin | 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 |
| Ohio State | 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.
| Semifinals November 9 | Semifinals November 9 | Semifinals November 9 | Final November 11 | Final November 11 | Final November 11 |
| 1 | Indiana (p) | 1 (4) | | | |
| 5 | Maryland | 1 (3) | | | |
| 5 | Maryland | 1 (3) | 1 | Indiana | 3 |
| | | | 3 | Michigan | 0 |
| 3 | Michigan | 1 | 3 | Michigan | 0 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 0 | | | |

### NCAA Tournament

| Seed | Region | School | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
| 2 | Bloomington | Indiana | BYE | 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) | |
| 11 | Lexington | Maryland | BYE | 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) |
| — | Bloomington | Michigan | 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) | | | | |
| — | Louisville | Michigan 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 (%): | 1–0–1 (.750) | 3–0–1 (.875) | 3–0–0 (1.000) | 3–0–0 (1.000) | 1–2–0 (.333) | 1–0–0 (1.000) Total: 12–2–2 (.813) |

## Rankings
### National rankings

| | Improvement in ranking |
| | Drop in ranking |
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 |
| NV | No votes received |
| | | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| Indiana | USC | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | None released | None released | None released | None released | 3 |
| Indiana | TDS | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Maryland | USC | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | 15 | None released | None released | None released | None released | 1 |
| Maryland | TDS | 21 | 21 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | NV | NV | 22 | RV | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| Michigan | USC | 21 | NV | RV | RV | 21 | 19 | 14 | 16 | 18 | RV | RV | RV | RV | None released | None released | None released | None released | 24 |
| Michigan | TDS | 15 | 15 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | 22 | 18 | 17 | RV | NV | NV | NV | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| Michigan State | USC | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 17 | RV | RV | None released | None released | None released | None released | 4 |
| Michigan State | TDS | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 25 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Northwestern | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| Northwestern | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Ohio State | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| Ohio State | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Penn State | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| Penn State | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Rutgers | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| Rutgers | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Wisconsin | USC | 12 | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | RV | NV | NV | NV | RV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| Wisconsin | TDS | 18 | 18 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |

## Awards and honors
### Player of the week honors

| Week | Offensive | Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Defensive |
| Week | Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team |
| Week 1 | A.J. Palazzolo | MF | Indiana | Jimmy Hague | GK | Michigan State |
| Week 1 | A.J. Palazzolo | MF | Indiana | Miha Mišković | GK | Northwestern |
| Week 2 | Andrew Gutman | DF | Indiana | Trey Muse | GK | Indiana |
| Week 3 | DeJuan Jones | FW | Michigan State | Miha Mišković | GK | Northwestern |
| Week 4 | William Herve | MF | Maryland | Jackson Ragen | DF | Michigan |
| Week 5 | Ryan Sierakowski | FW | Michigan State | Ryan Gallagher | DF | Penn State |
| Week 6 | Umar Farouk Osman | FW | Michigan | Dean Cowdroy | GK | Wisconsin |
| Week 7 | Noah Melick | FW | Wisconsin | Patrick Nielsen | DF | Michigan State |
| Week 7 | Noah Melick | FW | Wisconsin | Josh Levine | GK | Penn State |
| Week 8 | Andrew Gutman | DF | Indiana | Dani Marks | DF | Penn State |
| Week 9 | Trevor Swartz | MF | Indiana | Dean Cowdroy | GK | Wisconsin |
| Week 10 | Andrew Gutman | DF | Indiana | Trey Muse | GK | Indiana |

### Postseason honors

2018 Big Ten Men's Soccer Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Chris Mueller, Wisconsin |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Grant Lillard, Indiana |
| Midfielder of the Year | Eryk Williamson, Maryland |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Jimmy Hague, Michigan State |
| Coach of the Year | Chaka Daley, Michigan |
| Freshman of the Year | Mason Toye, Indiana |
2018 Big Ten Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams :
| First Team Honorees | Second Team Honorees | All-Freshman Team Honorees | Sportsmanship Award Honorees |
| Forwards: 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 State | Forwards: 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., Indiana | Mohammed 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, Rutgers | Jack 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 | Andrew Gutman | Indiana | |

## 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.
| Rnd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | Team | School |
| 1 | 6 | Griffin Dorsey | FW | Toronto FC | Indiana (So.) |
| 1 | 7 | Dayne St. Clair | GK | Minnesota United | Maryland (Sr.) |
| 1 | 11 | DeJuan Jones | MF | New England Revolution | Michigan State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 15 | Chase Gasper | DF | New England Revolution | Maryland (R-Sr.) |
| 1 | 23 | Ryan Sierakowski | FW | Portland Timbers | Michigan State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 28 | Marcello Borges | DF | Colorado Rapids | Michigan (Jr.) |
| 2 | 30 | Jimmy Hague | GK | FC Cincinnati | Michigan State (R-Sr.) |
| 2 | 32 | Rece Buckmaster | DF | New York Red Bulls | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 2 | 33 | Andrew Samuels | DF | Houston Dynamo | Maryland (Sr.) |
| 2 | 34 | Amar Sejdič | MF | Montreal Impact | Maryland (Sr.) |
| 3 | 71 | Francesco Moore | DF | Portland Timbers | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 4 | 76 | Robbie Mertz | MF | Colorado Rapids | Michigan (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 | Pos. | School |
| Chicago Fire | Jeremiah Gutjahr | DF | Indiana (Sr.) |
| D.C. United | Donovan Pines | DF | Maryland (Jr.) |
| New England Revolution | Justin Rennicks | MF | Indiana (So.) |
| Seattle Sounders FC | Trey Muse | GK | Indiana (So.) |