2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season

The 2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season was the 29th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The regular season began on August 30, 2019, and concluded on November 3, 2019. The season culminated with the 2019 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament to determine the conference's automatic berth into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament began on November 10, 2019, and concluded on November 17, 2019.

2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Soccer
Duration	August 30, 2019 – November 3, 2019
Number of teams	9
2020 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pick	Jack Maher, 2nd overall
Picked by	Nashville SC
Regular Season
Season champions	Indiana
Runners-up	Penn State
Season MVP	O: Nebojša Popović M: Jack Maher D: Aaron Molloy G: Andrew Verdi
Top scorer	Nebojša Popović
Tournament
Champions	Indiana
Runners-up	Michigan
Finals MVP	O: Jack Hallahan D: Jack Maher

2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 9 Indiana ‡	7	–	1	–	0			15	–	3	–	4
No. 18 Penn State +	6	–	1	–	1			12	–	4	–	3
No. 17 Michigan +	4	–	1	–	3			11	–	5	–	6
Maryland +	3	–	3	–	2			11	–	8	–	2
Northwestern	3	–	3	–	2			8	–	8	–	2
Michigan State	3	–	4	–	1			3	–	12	–	3
Wisconsin	1	–	4	–	3			3	–	11	–	4
Rutgers	1	–	6	–	1			7	–	8	–	3
Ohio State	1	–	6	–	1			7	–	11	–	1
‡ – 2019 B1G Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2019 NCAA tournament As of 17 December 2019 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: Big Ten

Indiana finished the season as the Big Ten Champions. Maryland enters the season as the defending NCAA Tournament champions. Indiana went on to win the Big Ten regular season and tournament.

Background

Previous season

Main article: 2018 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season

The previous season was the 28th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The 2018 Big Ten 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. 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.^[1]

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.^[2] 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.^[3] Big Ten side, Maryland,^[4] would defeat Akron in the National Championship Game to win their fourth NCAA title, and their first since 2008.^[5][6]

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.^[7][8] Gutman would forgo an opportunity to sign a homegrown contract with the Chicago Fire^[9] and signed with Celtic in Scotland.^[10][11] Indiana sophomore forward, Griffin Dorsey was the highest Big Ten player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, being drafted by Toronto FC ninth overall.^[12] Eleven other Big Ten players were selected in the MLS SuperDraft, the most of any collegiate conference,^[13] and an additional four signed homegrown player contracts with their parent MLS clubs.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Coaching changes

Dan Donigan, the former head coach of Rutgers was fired following the 2018 season and was replaced by Fordham head coach, Jim McElderry.^[18]

School	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Rutgers	Dan Donigan	Fired	November 16, 2018	Preseason	Jim McElderry	December 8, 2018

Head coaches

As of the 2018 season

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school[19]	Big Ten record[19]	NCAA Tournaments[20]	NCAA College Cups[20]	NCAA Titles[20]
Indiana	Todd Yeagley	Wisconsin	9	129–54–36 (.671)[21]	122–45–34 (.692)[21]	35–15–18 (.647)[21]	10	3	1
Maryland	Sasho Cirovski	Hartford	26	412–156–60 (.704)[22]	386–143–53 (.709)[22]	24–9–7 (.688)[22]	25	9	3
Michigan	Chaka Daley	Providence	7	151–165–48 (.481)[23][24]	61–54–21 (.526)[23][24]	23–20–9 (.529)[23][24]	3	0	0
Michigan State	Damon Rensing	Michigan State (asst.)	10	117–66–30 (.620)[25]	117–66–30 (.620)[25]	31–26–13 (.536)[25]	8	1	0
Northwestern	Tim Lenahan	Lafayette	18	295–209–72 (.575)	169–140–51 (.540)	36–60–20 (.397)	4	0	0
Ohio State	Brian Maisonneuve	Indiana (asst.)	2	1–15–2 (.111)	1–15–2 (.111)	0–7–1 (.063)	0	0	0
Penn State	Jeff Cook	Bethlehem Steel (asst.)	2	127–104–36 (.543)	6–9–2 (.412)	3–3–2 (.500)	9	0	0
Rutgers	Jim McElderry	Fordham	1	127–125–37 (.503)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	3	0	0
Wisconsin	John Trask	UIC	10	129–96–55 (.559)	75–72–29 (.509)	26–28–10 (.484)	2	0	0

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on August 26, 2019.^[26]

	Team Ranking
1.	Indiana
2.	Maryland
3.	Michigan
4.	Michigan State
5.	Wisconsin
6.	Penn State
7.	Northwestern
8.	Ohio State
9.	Rutgers

Preseason national polls

The preseason national polls will be released in July and August 2019.

	United Soccer[27]	CSN[28]	Top Drawer Soccer
Indiana	2	9	5
Maryland	1	4	1
Michigan	24	16	13
Michigan State	7	10	8
Northwestern	—	—	—
Ohio State	—	—	—
Penn State	—	—	—
Rutgers	—	—	—
Wisconsin	RV	RV	—

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Early season tournaments will be announced in late Spring and Summer 2019.

Team	Tournament	Finish
Indiana	IU Credit Union Classic	1st
	Mike Berticelli Tournament	1st
Maryland	Audi Field Classic	2nd
Northwestern	IU Credit Union Classic	3rd
	Chicago Classic	4th
Ohio State	Dayton Classic	1st
	Wolstein Classic	3rd
Wisconsin	Chicago Classic	2nd

Postseason

Big Ten Tournament

Main article: 2019 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament

The Big Ten Tournament was played from November 9–17. Indiana won the tournament, defeating Michigan in the final.

	Semifinals					Final
	1	Indiana	1
	5	Maryland	0
						1	Indiana (pen.)	0 (4)
						3	Michigan	0 (3)
	2	Penn State	0
	3	Michigan	1

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament

The NCAA Tournament will begin in November 2019 and conclude on December 17, 2019.

Seed	Region	School	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship
5	Winston-Salem	Indiana	BYE	W 3–0 vs. Kentucky – (Bloomington, IN)	L 0–1 (OT) vs. UCSB – (Bloomington, IN)
13	Winston-Salem	Michigan	BYE	T 0–0 (5–4 PKs) vs. Wright State – (Ann Arbor, MI)	L 1–3 vs. Wake Forest – (Winston-Salem, NC)
15	Greenville	Penn State	BYE	L 2–3 (OT) vs. Providence – (State College, PA)
—	Winston-Salem	Maryland	W 4–0 vs. Iona – (College Park, MD)	L 0–3 vs. Wake Forest – (Winston-Salem, NC)
W–L–T (%):			1–0–0 (1.000)	1–2–1 (.375)	0–2–0 (.000)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–) Total: 2–4–1 (.357)

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	2	4	4	5	8	4	6	10	10	9	8	6	None released				9
	TDS	5	5	4	4	5	8	7	7	7	8	9	8	8	6	6	9	9	9
Maryland	USC	1	4	24	25	RV	RV	25	25	22	17	23	22	RV	None released				RV
	TDS	1	1	1	21	NV	NV	NV	13	15	7	6	14	14	16	20	20	20	20
Michigan	USC	24	RV	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	RV	17	None released				17
	TDS	13	13	RV	18	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	24	17	11	16	13	13	13
Michigan State	USC	7	16	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released				NV
	TDS	8	8	6	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Northwestern	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released				NV
	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	RV	RV	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released				NV
	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	RV	RV	NV	RV	19	16	13	12	13	None released				18
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	RV	20	22	RV	15	15	10	10	20	18	18	18	18
Rutgers	USC	NV	NV	RV	24	22	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released				NV
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	25	25	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Wisconsin	USC	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released				NV
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV

Regional rankings - USC North Region

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 10
NV		No votes received

The USC North Region compares teams across the Big Ten Conference, Horizon League, and Mid-American Conference.

	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12
Indiana	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maryland	1	5	6	10	6	2	2	3	3	4	3	5
Michigan	NV	10	9	8	10	4	4	7	7	5	5	2
Michigan State	4	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Northwestern	7	NV	NV	9	5	NV	NV	NV	10	10	9	NV
Ohio State	NV	6	4	4	7	6	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Penn State	NV	9	8	3	4	5	3	2	2	2	2	3
Rutgers	10	3	3	2	3	9	6	8	9	9	NV	NV
Wisconsin	9	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV

Statistics

Goals Rank Player College Goals[29] 1 Nebojša Popović Michigan 10 2 Liam Butts Penn State 8 Aaron Molloy Penn State 4 Pablo Ávila Rutgers 6 5 Joshua Penn Indiana 5 Devyn Etling Ohio State Jack Holland Ohio State Matt Moderwell Northwestern Derick Broche Michigan Eric Matzelevich Maryland Victor Bezerra Indiana Jackson Temple Rutgers

Assists Rank Player College Assists[29] 1 Marc Ybarra Michigan 8 2 Jack Holland Ohio State 7 3 Aidan Morris Indiana 6 Matt Moderwell Northwestern Jack Hallahan Michigan 6 Eli Crognale Maryland 5 Aaron Molloy Penn State Christian Sload Penn State 9 Malcolm Johnston Maryland 4 Pierre Reedy Penn State

Shutouts

Rank	Player	College	Shutouts[30]
1	Roman Celentano	Indiana	3
	Parker Siegfried	Ohio State
	Oren Asher	Rutgers
4	Sean Caulfield	Indiana	2
5	Niklas Neumann	Maryland	1
	Andrew Verdi	Michigan
	Hunter Morse	Michigan State
	Kris Shakes	Penn State
	Dean Cowdroy	Wisconsin

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Week	Offensive			Defensive
	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team
Sep. 4	Jørgen Wisth Lie	FW	Rutgers	Jack Maher	MF	Indiana
Sep. 10	Joe Ortiz	FW	Ohio State	Sean Caulfield	DF	Indiana
Sep. 17	Devyn Etling	FW	Ohio State	Ben Di Rosa	DF	Maryland
Sep. 24	Nebojša Popović	FW	Michigan	Brandon Hackenberg	DF	Penn State
Oct. 1	Farai Mutatu	FW	Michigan State	Josh Levine	GK	Penn State
Oct. 8	Aidan Morris	FW	Indiana	Jackson Ragen	DF	Michigan
Oct. 15	Liam Butts	FW	Penn State	Roman Celentano	GK	Indiana
Oct. 22	Aaron Molloy	MF	Penn State	Johannes Bergmann	MF	Maryland
Oct. 29	Aidan Morris	FW	Indiana	Niklas Neumann	DF	Maryland
Nov. 5	Christian Sload	FW	Penn State	Jack Maher	MF	Indiana

Postseason honors

2019 Big Ten Men's Soccer Individual Awards[31]
Award	Recipient(s)
Offensive Player of the Year	Nebojša Popović, Michigan*
Defensive Player of the Year	Aaron Molloy, Penn State*
Midfielder of the Year	Jack Maher, Indiana
Goalkeeper of the Year	Andrew Verdi, Michigan
Coach of the Year	Todd Yeagley, Indiana
Freshman of the Year	Aidan Morris, Indiana

2019 Big Ten Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams[31]
First Team Honorees	Second Team Honorees	All-Freshman Team Honorees	Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Forward Nebojsa Popovic, Michigan* Liam Butts, Penn State Midfield Aidan Morris, Indiana Eli Crognale, Maryland Jack Hallahan, Michigan* Aaron Molloy, Penn State* Defense Jack Maher, Indiana* Johannes Bergmann, Maryland* Jackson Ragen, Michigan Brandon Hackenberg, Penn State Goalkeeper Andrew Verdi, Michigan	Forward Eric Matzelevich, Maryland Matt Moderwell, Northwestern Midfield Joshua Penn, Indiana Marc Ybarra, Michigan Jack Holland, Ohio State Pablo Ávila, Rutgers Defense Spencer Glass, Indiana Simon Waever, Indiana Patrick Nielsen, Michigan State Garrett Opperman, Northwestern Goalkeeper Niklas Neumann, Maryland	Herbert Endeley, Indiana Aidan Morris, Indiana* Joshua Penn, Indiana* Malcolm Johnson, Maryland Nick Richardson, Maryland Derick Broche, Michigan Liam Butts, Penn State* Kris Shakes, Penn State Jalen Watson, Penn State* Hugo Le Guennec, Rutgers Jackson Temple, Rutgers*	Jack Maher, Indiana Nick Richardson, Maryland Kevin Buca, Michigan Cody Sweatte, Michigan State Mac Mazolla, Northwestern Parker Siegfried, Ohio State Will Campbell, Penn State Jake Longo, Rutgers Noah Leibold, Wisconsin

* denotes unanimous selection

All-Americans

Main article: 2019 NCAA Men's Soccer All-Americans

Consensus All-Americans
None

To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams. The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and one point for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The top five totals plus ties are first team and the next five plus ties are second team.^[32]

College Soccer News[33]	Soccer America[34]	Top Drawer Soccer[35]	United Soccer Coaches[36]
First Team
None	None	None	None
Second Team
Aaron Molloy – Penn State	Jack Maher – Indiana Aaron Molloy – Penn State	None	Jack Maher – Indiana Aaron Molloy – Penn State
Third Team
Jack Maher – Indiana	Aidan Morris – Indiana	Jack Maher – Indiana	Aidan Morris – Indiana

Other awards

• TopDrawerSoccer.com National Freshman of the Year Award: Aidan Morris, Indiana

2020 MLS Draft

Main article: 2020 MLS SuperDraft

The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was held in January 2020. Nine Big Ten players were selected in the draft, all in the first three rounds.

Rnd.	Pick	Player	Pos.	Team	School
1	2	Jack Maher	DF	Nashville SC	Indiana (So.)
1	16	Aaron Molloy	MF	Portland Timbers	Penn State (Sr.)
1	23	Patrick Nielsen	DF	Atlanta United	Michigan State (RS-Jr.)
2	46	Michael Wetungu	DF	Real Salt Lake	Michigan State (Sr.)
2	50	Jack Hallahan	MF	Los Angeles FC	Michigan (Sr.)
2	51	Simon Waever	DF	Real Salt Lake	Indiana (Sr.)
3	53	Joris Ahlinvi	MF	FC Cincinnati	Indiana (Sr.)
3	65	Andrew Verdi	GK	D.C. United	Michigan (Sr.)
3	74	Parker Siegfried	GK	New York City FC	Ohio State (RS-Sr.)

Homegrown players

Further information: Homegrown Player Rule (Major League Soccer)

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,^[37] 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.^[38] Players can play college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract.

Original MLS team	Player	Pos.	School	Ref.
Columbus Crew	Aidan Morris	MF	Indiana (Fr.)	[39]