EAST LANSING — The Big Ten released their list of postseason honors on Friday. Center-back Patrick Nielsen was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, even though he battled through injury for most of the season and only played nine games this season.

Nielsen was named to the All-Big Ten First Team last year, but an injury kept him out for most of the first half of this season. 

Cody Sweatte was honored as well, as Michigan State’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

According to their website, the Big Ten awards this honor to, “individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.”

It came as a bit of a surprise, at least to me, that Alex Shterenburg and Hunter Morse were not honored on either the All-Big Ten First or Second teams. 

At times this season, Shterenburg was the heartbeat of a struggling Spartan side. His offensive production and influence from left or right back was exquisite and was the driving force behind some of the MSU goals throughout the year. 

Morse being left off all lists completely can certainly be considered a snub. Morse leads the Big Ten in saves and saves per game, two of the most accurate categories in determining a goalkeeper’s quality in college soccer. 

Michigan State will play Michigan in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament on Sunday.

The Wolverines boast the Goalkeeper of the Year, Forward of the Year, four All-Big Ten first team selections and one All-Big Ten second team selections. 

MSU and Michigan will face off at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 and the game can be found on Big Ten Network.

Ian Gilmour is a broadcaster, men’s soccer reporter and co-host of Impact’s soccer podcast: The DeMartin Download