Men's soccer team to face Wildcats - again - in Big Ten Tournament this week

The defending Big Ten Tournament champion MSU men’s soccer team will attempt to defend its tournament title starting Thursday.

The No. 6-seeded Spartans will face No. 3 Northwestern at 3 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Bloomington, Ind. The winner will move on to face the winner of No. 2 Penn State and No. 7 Michigan.

Ohio State (4-2-0 Big Ten) won the regular season crown for the first time in program history and received the first round bye.

Thursday’s tilt will mark the second time in five days the Spartans (2-4-0 Big Ten) will face off against the Wildcats, with Northwestern defeating MSU 1-0 Saturday in Evanston, Ill.

The Wildcats scored the game’s lone goal in the fifth minute and the Spartans were unable to find the equalizer, despite recording nine corner kicks and outshooting Northwestern in the second half.

The semifinals and championship of the tournament will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.