After two exhibition games and six non-conference games, MSU field hockey (4-2 overall) will kick off Big Ten play this weekend in Columbus as they take on Ohio State (2-3 overall) at 3 p.m.
No. 25 MSU volleyball (5-3 overall) will host the 2014 Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational this weekend at Jenison Field House. The Spartans welcome LIU Brooklyn (7-3 overall), Western Kentucky (10-2 overall) and UW-Milwaukee (4-6 overall) to East Lansing for a two-day, six-game tournament.
This upcoming Friday, the men’s soccer team will take on the Maryland Terrapins in what will be MSU’s first Big Ten game of the season. “We have to refocus, work on some things this week, obviously there’s a huge one on Friday, the guys are already thinking about it and (there’s) a lot of work to do, a lot to work on,” senior defender Ryan Keener said after the game last Sunday.
MSU women’s soccer will visit Big Ten newcomers Rutgers and Maryland this weekend, but the Spartans are not exactly looking to give them a warm welcome to the conference.
Sept. 22, 2012 was a day that would be difficult to forget , even for the underachieving Spartans of 2012. Facing a team from the MAC that they were expected to beat by four or more touchdowns, MSU went into the locker room at halftime trailing Eastern Michigan 7-6.
Director of basketball operations Kevin Pauga tweeted earlier this week that Izzone ticket sale requests will begin at 9:20 p.m. on Sept. 20, in celebration of head basketball coach Tom Izzo’s 20th season.
Men’s soccer senior midfielder Fatai Alashe, born and raised in Northville, Mich., recalls learning the game of soccer as a blur. His father’s love for the game wore off on him as a boy, and he’s been playing ever since. “It’s all kind of a blur, it was mostly just my dad, my dad’s a big soccer fan..so I just learned it from him,” Alashe said. “I’ve been playing since I was a baby, probably three years old, and (my dad has) been teaching us stuff since then.”
Pound-green-pound has been the mentality head coach Mark Dantonio has built the program around since joining MSU’s sidelines in 2007. However, through the first two games, the normally reliable running game has been a cause for concern in East Lansing.No. 11 MSU (1-1 overall) is averaging 167 rushing yards per game, which puts them in bottom half of the country and eighth in the Big Ten. MSU was held to only 123 rushing yards in its last outing against No. 2 Oregon, creating a noticeable area for improvement this week against Eastern Michigan (1-2 overall).
Many MSU students might not know about the coach who will be on the opposite sideline of head coach Mark Dantonio, but Chris Creighton has been said to mirror Dantonio's off-the-field personality.Both coaches spoke at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp in Detroit, Dantonio said he was very impressed with Creighton."I was impressed with his delivery," Dantonio said.
Current MSU football players had the week off this past weekend, but a number of former Spartans carried on the program’s flag with impressive games in the NFL. Four former Spartan quarterbacks saw playing action in the NFL this past weekend, all of which leading their respective teams to victories.
Last Friday, MSU and then-No. 9 Wisconsin kicked their seasons off in a tough Big Ten opener. The Spartans and Badgers were certainly familiar with one another, but two individuals involved in the game knew each other like sisters.Courtney Clem, MSU’s redshirt senior goalkeeper, had the rare opportunity to see her sister, Caitlyn, on the opposite bench.
Early in the season, there seemed to be a couple of trends that were forming for No. 16 MSU field hockey. Among them, the team consistently found themselves in overtime finishes and always wound up splitting weekend series.This past weekend in Kent, Ohio, the Spartans were able to kick the one trend that means the most.
After a long two week lay-off following No. 11 MSU’s (1-1 overall) 46-27 loss to No. 2 Oregon (3-0 overall), the Spartans will be back in action this Saturday against Eastern Michigan (1-2 overall) for a 12 p.m. kickoff. On Tuesday, football head coach Mark Dantonio was at the stage for his weekly press conference, when he addressed the bye week, final thoughts after the Oregon loss and keys to beating Eastern Michigan.
No. 25 MSU volleyball (5-3 overall) will have to find a way to pick up the slack left behind after junior setter Halle Peterson dislocated her shoulder. Peterson injured her shoulder during Friday’s game against No. 14 Oregon. There is no timetable for her return.
Still reeling in the benefits of a Big Ten and Rose Bowl Championship, MSU football has now seen its season ticket totals reach a near record high.
Despite having the weekend off, No. 11 MSU (1-1 overall) took a step back, or at least its playoff chances did.
By Katie Winklerkwinkler@statenews.comTHE STATE NEWSnnThe Women’s tennis team hosted their 25th annual Auto-Owner’s Insurance Spartan invitational tournament on Saturday and Sunday against Detroit Mercy, IPFW and Toledo.
After defeating Loyola-Chicago this past Sunday, the men’s soccer team has moved to 3-1-1 on the season heading into their first conference game of the year against Maryland on Sept. 19. The Spartans will need the other members of the team to step up while senior forward Adam Montague and senior forward Tim Kreutz sit out with injuries. According to head coach Damon Rensing, junior midfielder Jay Chapman is one of those guys, commenting on his performance after Sunday’s game.
In preparation for the 2014 season, Director of Basketball Operations Kevin Pauga has announced MSU basketball will hold its annual "Midnight Madness" event on Friday Oct. 24. No official start time has been announced as of yet, but in 2013 doors opened at 8:30 p.m.
The Spartan volleyball team (5-3 overall) returned home on Sunday with one more loss and one more win after splitting two games in the Big Ten/Pac-12 challenge.“We played two quality Pac-12 teams,” head coach Cathy George said. “I think there were areas where we grew and areas where we need to get sharper as a whole.”