After a tough weekend that saw the team lose two conference games, including a drubbing by No. 1 Penn State, the MSU volleyball team is looking to get back on track at home. The season’s first conference road trip didn’t go as planned. The team snapped its 10-game winning streak, losing 3-1 to Indiana and 3-0 to Penn State. The losses move them to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.
The last time the MSU field hockey team saw Wake Forest, it was on the way out of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Twice last season, the Demon Deacons got the better of the Spartans, something the players haven’t forgotten.
The MSU hockey team plays in the Ice Breaker Tournament this weekend. Here is a look at the two teams they will face off against. Both games will be at Agganis Arena in Boston.
As the MSU hockey team heads to Boston to compete in the Ice Breaker Tournament this weekend, head coach Rick Comley expects to find out more about the character of his team — especially his 11 freshmen.
The MSU men’s soccer team is riding a three-game winning streak coming into a tough week against No. 14 Notre Dame and No. 23 Indiana.
For a defensive-minded leader with roots in the secondary, last season’s double-overtime loss to Northwestern couldn’t have sat well with MSU head coach Mark Dantonio. Northwestern’s then-junior gunslinger, quarterback C.J.
When the Spartans scored three unanswered goals in the first period, it seemed to be time for the Western Ontario Mustangs to start warming the bus. The Mustangs weren’t ready to call it a game yet though, as they exploded in the second period and scored three unanswered goals to tie the game.
Field hockey junior midfielder Floor Rijpma was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for her performance against Indiana and Temple last weekend. Rijpma scored five goals in two games, including four against Indiana on Friday, to lead the Spartans to two victories. She leads the team with 13 goals this season.
When the athletics department scheduled the MSU volleyball team for two games at Breslin Center, it called it an experiment. The experiment was a success as more than 9,000 fans filled the arena for two games against Ohio State and Michigan.
Football junior kicker Brett Swenson was named co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week last week after he was a perfect 3-for-3 in field goal attempts in MSU’s 16-13 win over Iowa.
Smurfs are normally regarded as tiny blue creatures from a place called Smurf Village — a fictional land described in comics and cartoons since the 1980s. But in the land of Green and White, the name “Smurf” refers to one very specific individual — 5-foot-3 women’s soccer junior midfielder Lauren Sinacola.
The struggles of last year’s MSU football team are well documented. The Spartans went 7-6, with all six losses coming by seven points or less. That trend continued in the 2008 season opener against California, where the Spartans once again found themselves staring at another loss by seven points, with a 38-31 outcome.
The hot seat just got a little warmer for Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Ferentz, whose contract runs through 2012, made one of those questionable coaching decisions Saturday that leaves fans at home thinking they’d do a better job making the calls.
The No. 8 MSU field hockey team mowed through its competition this weekend, scoring 18 goals in two games. The Spartans, who have won eight straight, recorded their second shutout of the season Sunday by beating Temple 9-0.
Be it rushing or protecting the quarterback, MSU’s offensive and defensive lines were pass-happy against Iowa. With the ball in their hands, the Spartans’ offensive line has given up two sacks through six games, one of which came Saturday when Iowa defensive tackle Mitch King brought MSU senior quarterback Brian Hoyer down in the third quarter.
When MSU alumnus Doug DeMartin sat back and wondered where a donation would best suit MSU’s athletic needs, he turned his head to the soccer field. He noticed the caliber of Spartans soccer and the space they competed on were at complete opposite ends of the spectrum — the playing field not doing the Green and White justice as to how great of a program they’ve always been and what they strive to be.
As the game went on, the intensity only escalated — higher and higher every second. Bodies thrown to the field, whistles blowing, cards being raised and the clock only stopping for minor injuries.
During the MSU hockey team’s annual Green and White game, both teams got a little taste of victory. After two 25-minute periods, the White team prevailed 5-1, but the Green team won the practice shootout afterward. MSU head coach Rick Comley saw progress on both sides of the puck in the team’s first time playing a game together.
After nearly 58 minutes of grind-it-out, pound-it-home football Saturday, Iowa turned the game against MSU into a game of inches. Trailing the Spartans 16-13 with 2:13 remaining, the Hawkeyes faced a fourth-and-inches situation at MSU’s 20-yard line. Instead of attempting a 37-yard field goal for the tie, Iowa opted to keep its offense on the field and go for the first down. Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi handed the ball to 5-foot-11, 235 bruising running back Shonn Greene, who ran to his left in search of an opening.
The No. 8 MSU field hockey team got off to a fast start and never looked back in its 9-1 victory over Indiana on Friday at Ralph Young Field.