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Sports | Hockey

FOOTBALL

Spartans look to come back from Ohio State loss with victory against rival

Cash Kruth
October 23, 2008

Ohio State exposed MSU’s biggest flaw that everyone already knew about — speed kills the Spartans. With Michigan becoming the latest Big Ten team to employ a version of the spread offense, this could theoretically be another long day for the MSU defense. That being said, U-M’s offense lacks playmakers, and the Spartans — with the exception of last week — have played their “bend but don’t break” defense to perfection.

SOCCER

MSU wins fourth straight, beats Cincinnati 2-0

Alex DiFilippo
October 22, 2008

The No. 24 MSU men’s soccer team entered Wednesday’s nonconference game having won three straight games against top 20 teams. But MSU head coach Joe Baum was worried his team might underestimate Cincinnati and come out flat in the midweek game.

SOCCER

Spartans look to get back on track after tough loss

Sean Ely
October 22, 2008

After two maturity-gaining road losses in the beginning of October, it looked as if no one could stand in the way of the MSU women’s soccer victory train. But after three straight quality conference wins, the Spartans (13-4 overall, 5-3 Big Ten) hit a break in the tracks when traveling to Wisconsin — getting shut out 2-0 on Sunday against the Badgers.

BASKETBALL

Izzo keeps players on their toes with early practices

Sean Ely
October 21, 2008

So early on, truly anything flies. That’s been MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo’s mindset throughout the team’s first four official practices, playing every single one of his players in various positions to get them comfortable with moving around and responding to adversity when the team needs it most.

SOCCER

Spartans looking to finish season strong

Alex DiFilippo
October 20, 2008

The men’s soccer team is on fire. The Spartans have six wins in their last seven games and have only allowed seven goals in that span. But MSU head coach Joe Baum doesn’t want his team to get too confident just yet, especially after the Spartans went 0-5-1 to finish last season.

SPORTS

Miller having successful freshman season

Chantae Miller could be playing field hockey in Europe right now instead of suiting up for MSU. The freshman forward was a three-time All-American in high school and the only player in U.S. high school history to score 100 goals and notch 100 assists, totaling 148 goals and 135 assists in her career. When she knew she would graduate early, she weighed her options.

BASEBALL

Teams took long road to Fall Classic

The MSU football team is in the midst of its most exciting season in recent memory, and, fresh off Midnight Madness on Friday, the MSU men’s basketball team has fans pumped for yet another potential NCAA Final Four run. But as leaves fall from trees and the air continues to cool, there is only one thing that truly keeps me going.

FOOTBALL

Fall from grace

Jacob Carpenter
October 19, 2008

MSU head coach Mark Dantonio made it clear Saturday that, if healthy, senior quarterback Brian Hoyer will start next week after missing most of the second half of MSU’s 45-7 home drubbing against Ohio State.

SPORTS

Don't count Spartans out of season yet

In a matter of hours Saturday, the national and local perception of the MSU football team drastically changed. The No. 20 Spartans fell to No. 12 Ohio State 45-7 in front of 77,360 fans at Spartan Stadium and a national television audience.

ICE HOCKEY

Freshmen will benefit from early ice time

Alex DiFilippo
October 19, 2008

I’ll be the first to admit, I was very skeptical of the outlook for this hockey season after seeing the Spartans get smoked 3-0 by UMass-Lowell in their home opener Thursday night. The icers looked more like a peewee team than the No. 11 team in the country. The communication was off, passes were sloppy and the offense couldn’t even get into the zone.

SOCCER

Grand finish

Alex DiFilippo
October 19, 2008

Junior midfielder Tim Granaderos couldn’t have dreamt of a better time to score his first collegiate goal. Granaderos’ goal came off a header with 12:27 left in the game to give the MSU men’s soccer team the 1-0 lead — a lead they would hold onto until the end of the game to defeat No. 18 Michigan and keep the Big Bear Trophy in East Lansing.

SPORTS

Offense fails to get going in weekend split

The No. 4 MSU field hockey team stumbled a little this weekend, losing to Michigan and barely beating Ohio 2-1. The weekend started on a bad note for the team, as it struggled Friday against U-M in Ann Arbor. The Spartans, who average a little more than 20 shots per game, only mustered four shots in the first half against the Wolverines and eight shots the entire game, resulting in a 1-0 loss.

BASKETBALL

Atmosphere worth loss for university

Sean Ely
October 19, 2008

It’s no surprise that MSU students get certain price-saving deals because of their enrollment at the university. But the numbers for student members of the Izzone are colossal when hammered out and put into black and white — seeing how much MSU’s administration could be banking compared to what they charge their loyal fans between the ages of 18-23.

FOOTBALL

Spartans must move on, look to U-M game

Watching Ohio State run up the score against the Spartans on Saturday was like watching your dog get mercilessly beaten by a crazy neighbor, knowing there was nothing you could do except close your eyes and wait for the madness to end.