Yet to play its 'best soccer,' Michigan State looks to captain DeJuan Jones to lead

Phil Friend | Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING - DeJuan Jones is a scorer.

That's what he did in high school, especially in his last two years, tallying 28 and 26 goals, respectively, as a junior and senior in leading East Lansing to back-to-back state championships.

And in his breakout junior season at Michigan State last fall, Jones tallied seven goals and six assists in helping the Spartans to its first national quarterfinal appearance since 2014.

So what Jones, a senior captain who will play his final regular-season home game Tuesday night vs.18th-ranked Michigan, is going through right now is new territory.

He has not scored in nine consecutive games. And within those nine games are a couple of surprise losses Michigan State suffered vs. Wisconsin and Akron, and a draw Friday night vs. a 4-7 Northwestern team that hasn't won a game since Sept. 9.

All of those games were at home, too.

So there's probably a correlation there. At one time this season, MSU was ranked as high as No. 3. The Spartans were 13th last week and will probably drop when this week's rankings come out Tuesday.

But even so, Jones is keeping his head up as the Spartans prepare and plan for another deep postseason run, despite the struggles.

"It's getting pretty late in the season, but we still haven't played our best soccer. That's pretty encouraging if you ask me," Jones said. "Hopefully, we still have a lot of season to play for."

Friday's draw with Northwestern didn't officially knock the Spartans out of the hunt for the Big Ten title, but it will take a minor miracle for it to happen. An Indiana win over Ohio State on Wednesday night gives the Hoosiers the league title. A loss or draw, coupled with MSU wins over Michigan and then Indiana on Sunday would put the two teams level on points.

So Jones would love nothing more than to break his scoring duck now, and keep the Spartans in contention

"It's a great opportunity," Jones said. "Obviously, the loss to Wisconsin kind of hurt. We've got pride on our home field, DeMartin, and against Michigan, it's always going to be a battle to the end. You play club (soccer) with those guys, played against each other for all of our lives.

"It's a physical, mental battle for 90 minutes."

Despite the long stretch without a goal, Jones has made his presence felt in other areas, tallying assists against Rutgers and Akron.

But Jones, with his five goals on the year, hasn't scored since netting two vs. Oakland back on Sept. 10. It came in a week in which he was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after also scoring twice vs. Bowling Green.

But if Friday night vs. Northwestern was any indication, a breakthrough is coming soon. He had three shots on goal, including a header that was turned away by a great goalkeeper save.

Jones leads the team in shots on goal (19), is second in shots (29) and is tied for fourth in assists (3). While Jones may not be scoring to his standard, this is not the first time he has faced adversity.

In the offseason before his sophomore season at MSU, Jones broke his foot, leaving him behind the 8-ball in training. And once he did work his way into playing shape, Jones was hobbled by a hamstring injury that limited his effectiveness and then put him on the shelf for the final five regular season games.

And the week Jones suffered the hamstring injury, he had just been named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after getting an assist and a goal vs. Wisconsin.

"The hamstring injury was really devastating," Jones said. "I was on the come-up finally there.

"It was nice, though, to just observe from the bench, see what my teammates were doing, see what the coaches were talking about, just get a different perspective and you can really learn a lot from just observing."

Before his freshman year at MSU, coming off the bench was something unfamiliar for Jones. But he did that quite a bit his first two seasons, starting in just eight of the 33 games he played in.

"It was good to start at the bottom again and work my way up to the top," Jones said. "I was coming off the bench to bring more energy to the field, and change the game when I came in."

In his junior year, Jones finally broke through, starting 15 of the Spartans' 20 games. And this season, he's started in all 15 games.

"He's a big player for us, not just on the field but off the field," said MSU freshman Farai Mutatu, who grew up in nearby Haslett. "He does a good job making sure everyone's happy and doing what they need to do. He's a great leader."

Jones's accolades before college read like the bio of one of the Lansing area's best soccer players ever, which he is.

He won both Mr. Soccer and the Gatorade Michigan Soccer Player of the Year his senior season. He played in the High School All-American game and was also featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd."

He's also a club soccer national champion in 2014 and won the golden boot as the tournament's top scorer.

And it wasn't just the amount of goals and assists he had at East Lansing, it's when. Eleven of his 26 goals his senior year came in the state tournament. Jones scored the game-winning goal in the regional final, scored the late tying goal in the semifinal, and in the state championship game assisted on the tying goal and scored the winning goal in overtime.

So, yeah, Jones knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.

"I've pretty much won at every level I've played at," Jones said.

Adding to that trophy case is the next step for Jones and his MSU teammates. They reached the NCAA Division 1 tournament quarterfinals last year, falling to Indiana in penalties (3-2) after the match was tied 1-1 after regulation and extra time.

"We're still on the right track," Jones said. "It's just the little details we've got to take care of. Making sure it's constant communication, seniors are leading on the field, just seeing the little things that add up to the big things."

For his college career, Jones has tallied 16 goals and 12 assists, and this season he is a candidate for the senior CLASS award, awarded to an NCAA men's soccer player who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

"DeJuan's a very good soccer player and I think he's an even better person," said MSU coach Damon Rensing. "It's always nice to see somebody get better and develop as a player every year. Certainly, his senior year's been the best he's been."

While the current focus is on the Big Ten chase and the NCAA tournament, Jones also does have one eye on post-college life. The education major hopes to play professional soccer, and trained with Minnesota United last summer.

It's entirely possible that Jones gets selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft in January. Jones made the list of SB Nation's 50 players to watch in the preseason and is ranked No. 48 nationally by Top Drawer Soccer.

Watch Jones play and you can see why scouts think he can play at the next level. He's got pace, he's not afraid to use a stepover in the box, a la Cristiano Ronaldo, to create space and he delivers quality passes into the box that can create chances.

"That's been a dream of mine and definitely what I'm looking to do after this year," Jones said. "But right now, my focus is helping my team win in whatever way that is."

The SuperDraft is four rounds, with 92 players selected.

"I think he's going to have opportunities to try and play at the next level," Rensing said. "He's got some ability for sure, but it takes a little bit more than that. He's going to have to continue to work hard.

"You have to find the right team, but DeJuan is a pretty determined kid and if he puts his time and effort and keeps working on his skills and craft, he's got a chance to play."

Contact digital sports reporter Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.

IF YOU GO

Who: Michigan State vs. Michigan men's soccer

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Where: DeMartin Stadium, East Lansing

Admission: Free admission for all ages