Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Sports | 1117

ICE HOCKEY

Solid 4th line steps up and gives Spartans an edge

Eric Fish
March 23, 2006

With the score 2-1 and less than six minutes left to play in Saturday's CCHA playoff-clinching victory, MSU head coach Rick Comley sent out the fourth line to kill some time off the clock and recharge his other lines. Not only did the trio of sophomore Zak McClellan, junior Chris Lawrence and freshman Nick Sucharski eat the clock and protect the lead, but they outplayed the opposing Miami line while generating a scoring chance. "Every time he can put us out there, it doesn't really matter what time of the game it is, it gives us a lot of confidence — just being able to go out there and know that he has faith in us," McClellan said. "We go out there, and we know in our heads that we can make things happen." Mixed in with redshirt freshman Dan Sturges for much of the season, the fourth line has been trusted to go out and play in critical situations when most other college coaches could have them riding the bench. "I trust them to go out there and be responsible and play how we want to play and that's not unusual.

ICE HOCKEY

Miller's tradition becomes pregame staple for success

Eric Fish
March 23, 2006

They say the playoffs are no place for a nervous person. Maybe that's the reason for the latest pregame ritual in the Spartans locker room, which involves a garbage can and plenty of hockey sticks. Aside from growing out the facial hair — as many players do in the postseason — the Spartans have begun to place their sticks in the locker room garbage can prior to games to signify the importance of the hard-working and far from glamorous "garbage goals." "I didn't know anything about it until I walked in the locker room one day, and I saw a stick in the garbage," MSU head coach Rick Comley said.

SPORTS

From the road

Women's basketball reporter Ethan Conley offers his ramblings from Chicago, where the Spartans played the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. • Apparently every restaurant in the Chicago area serves "The best (fill in the blank) you've ever had." Sit down for a burger at Harry Caray's Restaurant, and they'll tell you it's the best burger of your life.

SPORTS

Gebauer leaping to new heights with pole vault

Angela Bianchi
March 21, 2006

Years ago, he was a small-town kid begging his dad to let him pole vault like his older brother. Now, senior Brad Gebauer has taken his family's tradition of pole vaulting to new heights after placing fourth in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 10, earning All-America honors with his 17-foot, 10.5-inch jump. Gebauer, seeded fifth for the meet, said he was pleased with the fourth-place finish among the nation's top 16 pole vaulters. "My goal was to become All-American and place fifth or better," he said.

SPORTS

Recipe for Big Ten success: more Rogaine, less Bo

Big Ten — what happened? You were ranked No. 1 in conference RPI before the NCAA Tournament began and got six bids into the Big Dance. After the first four days of play, all six teams from the best conference in the land are left scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong.

SPORTS

Front and center

Angela Bianchi
March 20, 2006

The State News recently caught up with MSU women's basketball junior guard Victoria Lucas-Perry. • Her favorite movie… "I love 'Dodgeball' — it's hilarious." • Her favorite song… "'Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It' (by Dem Franchize Boyz). Me and my teammates do a dance to it." • Her favorite ice cream… "Chocolate chip cookie dough.

SPORTS

From the road

Men's basketball reporter Tom Keller concluded his days on the road in Dayton, Ohio. We stayed in the Dayton Marriott, which was quite a change of pace from the steady diet of Best Westerns and Days Inns we've stayed at all season.

SPORTS

Simmons brothers finish season as All-Americans

Steve Highfield
March 20, 2006

Nick and Andy Simmons repeated as wrestling All-Americans at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City this past weekend, but fell short of their goals to bring home national championships. Nick Simmons earned a fourth-place finish at 125 pounds for the second straight year, and 141-pound Andy Simmons improved from sixth place in 2005 to fifth place. Two other MSU wrestlers — seniors R.J.

ICE HOCKEY

Comley and his seniors endured the ups, downs

There's a saying that goes "You're only as good as your seniors." Well this weekend, the four regularly dressed MSU seniors were about as good as you can be on and off the ice. Defensemen Corey Potter and Jared Nightingale and forwards Colton Fretter and David Booth have been through the downs of the program and have helped return the Spartans to a status of national superiority. It took them four years, but finally each of these well-deserving seniors will leave with a sense of satisfaction.

SPORTS

Catching up with...

Get the lowdown on how the players of the next men's hoops class still playing in the high school boys' playoffs fared. Isaiah Dahlman Shooting guard/small forward 6-foot-6, 175 pounds Braham Area High School (Braham, Minn.) With a 41-point effort Friday in the Section 6AA finals, Dahlman broke the all-time Minnesota boys' basketball scoring record, the Isanti County News reported.

SPORTS

Monday musings

Tom Keller
March 20, 2006

A different take on the sports world. Wide receiver Terrell Owens, who was cut from the Philadelphia Eagles last season for his repeated on- and off-the-field antics, signed with the Dallas Cowboys last week. As part of the deal, Dallas head coach Bill Parcells will receive an aspirin to be named later. A Chicago-based consulting firm estimates that this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament will cost employers $3.8 billion in lost productivity. Ironically, that's also the number of times the phrase, "My bracket is so screwed," will be uttered during the next month. In a related story, Bradley, George Mason and Wichita State all made surprise advances to the Sweet 16. What conference are these teams from again?