Losing a starting goalkeeper is never easy, but the women’s soccer team was able to overcome the crucial injury to pick up the 1-0 win at New Mexico.
The men’s soccer team lost 2-1 to Valparaiso in a hard fought game Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field.
Fifty-six yards. That’s the amount of yards it took sophomore defensive end Shilique Calhoun upon picking off a third-quarter pass thrown by South Florida quarterback Bobby Eveld to find his way into the end zone for the second time that day. That’s the play that’s propelled Calhoun into the national discussion, earning him the distinction by defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi as MSU’s “running back on defense.”
Max Bullough was refreshingly honest Saturday evening when asked if his defense could maintain its elite performance and surprising point production throughout the season. “No, I don’t think so,” he said with a laugh.
After falling behind 2-1 at the half, junior forward Allie Ahern knew the Spartans couldn’t afford to lose. Not again.
The momentum from Friday’s win over national championship-runner up Oregon carried over for MSU as they rolled to a 3-0 sweep over Oregon State Saturday night (25-12, 25-16, 25-17).
A week ago, it didn’t seem possible for the MSU defense to play any better after holding Western Michigan to 11 rushing yards and scoring two touchdowns.
When asked about the facemask on his helmet earlier in the week, Shilique Calhoun said it’s part of his on-field persona. To the sophomore defensive end, the persona transforms him into Bane — the physically superior and mentally supreme supervillain of the Batman universe. But speak of the devil and he shall appear.
A week after a standout defensive effort trumped a listless offensive showing in a 26-13 victory over Western Michigan, the storyline remains much the same this week for MSU football team, as they head into halftime leading South Florida, 7-6.
After storms interrupted the opening night of football Spartan Stadium, fans again were asked to evacuate Spartan Stadium on Saturday due to a severe weather warning prior to the noon kickoff against South Florida.
A popular phrase in soccer is “Bend it like Beckham,” but in the MSU men’s soccer team’s 1-0 win against Oregon State Friday afternoon, it should have been “Bend it like Thelen.”
It was a huge victory for the Spartans, and the two-headed monster of senior middle blocker Alexis Mathews and senior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski enabled it to happen.
Despite blocking for one of the nation’s most prolific running backs in Le’Veon Bell a season ago, injuries still badly decimated MSU’s offensive line.
With national championship runner-up Oregon coming to town, the MSU volleyball team will be in for a challenging matchup Friday.
The men’s soccer team is set for its first home weekend with games against Oregon State and Valparaiso on Friday and Sunday.
Despite the defense not being up to snuff for much of their game against Oakland, the MSU women’s soccer team has yet to suffer its first loss.
Following a grueling weekend that featured three games in four days — and two losses — the MSU field hockey team will welcome their home turf this weekend as they host Syracuse, Monmouth and Kent State at the Auto-Owners Insurance MSU Invitational.
As the saying goes, “A good offense starts with a good defense,” and nowhere is that more true than with the MSU men’s soccer team.
Max Bullough made a well-publicized speech to his team before hitting the field to play Minnesota last year, in which he challenged MSU’s offense.
With the Big Ten season not far off, the women’s soccer team and head coach Tom Saxton know they can’t look past Oakland on Thursday evening.