The MSU field hockey team won their fifth straight game on Saturday, upsetting No. 6 Iowa, 3-1, in Iowa City. After falling to a 1-0 disadvantage early on, the Spartans (10-3 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) rallied to knot the score at one just before the half.
By Bob Darrow Special for The State news The MSU men's soccer team has heard coach Joe Baum tell them that in order to win a game, they have to give 110-percent effort for the full 90 minutes. After Sunday's 4-2 loss to rival Michigan, the Spartans are likely wishing that half the amount of time would have been enough. The contest at Old College Field was a tale of two Spartan teams - one that was thoroughly dominated by Michigan in the first half, and the other that stormed out after halftime to score two quick goals and continue to threaten the Wolverines' lead for the duration of the game. For the first 46 minutes, the action belonged almost entirely to U-M.
Please note: This is a work of complete fiction. The scene is two months from now, Atlantic City.
Urbana-Champaign, Ill. - The trip was three-and-a-half years in the making. And when junior running back Tyrell Dortch reached the end zone for his first career touchdown, that wasn't enough.
The MSU women's soccer team's home unbeaten streak will be tested this weekend against two Big Ten foes. The Spartans (7-4-0 overall, 3-3-0 Big Ten) will host No.
After being ranked No. 4 nationally this week, the MSU women's cross country team will travel to the Michigan Intercollegiate in Hudsonville on Friday with the men's team. The women's team is ranked 13 places ahead of Wisconsin to be the highest-ranked Big Ten team. The Intercollegiate will begin at 4 p.m.
MSU baseball will play a Green & Gray World Series beginning this weekend at Kobs Field to wrap up its fall practice and scrimmage run. Game one is at 2 p.m.
This isn't the first time Findlay hockey head coach Pat Ford has been a part of the Ice Breaker Tournament against MSU. Findlay's second-year coach was a part of the inaugural tournament in Madison, Wis., as a Badgers assistant in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Spartans in 1997.
After finishing the nonconference season, the No. 16 MSU volleyball team was hitting on all cylinders and was looking forward to starting the Big Ten season at home.
Both MSU tennis teams continue with fall tournaments this weekend to prepare for the 2004 spring season. The men's team will visit Ann Arbor on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the Michigan Invitational. The women will host The Spartan Cup beginning at 9 a.m.
After sitting out all of last year and catching only nine passes for 64 yards in the first five games this season, sophomore receiver Matt Trannon finally busted out of his shell last weekend. And his coaches and teammates couldn't be more excited. "First of all, you got to remember he hasn't gotten very much time on the field, and I think you'll see him begin to continue to steadily improve each week," senior quarterback Jeff Smoker said.
If the MSU basketball team is lacking one thing, it would be depth in the post. The Spartans took a step in the right direction Wednesday when Lansing Everett senior center Goran Suton orally committed to MSU. "I'm going to stay here and be a Spartan," Suton said in Everett's Earvin "Magic" Johnson Gymnasium. With the early exit of freshman Erazem Lorbek last season and the possibility that sophomore Paul Davis might leave early if he has one or two spectacular seasons, the Spartans' most pressing need was at the center and power forward position. When Florida Air Academy star Alexander Kaun, who orally committed to Kansas, eliminated MSU as one of his potential schools, the Spartans put more effort into recruiting Suton.
The Spartans must enjoy playing do-or-die soccer games.The MSU men's soccer team (7-2-2) played in its third straight double overtime game, this one being a 1-0 victory over Oakland University.Sophomore forward Ryan McMahen scored on a header in the 106th minute giving the Spartans their third straight double-overtime victory.
As one athlete died, he took his teammate's career with him.Dan Snyder of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers was a passenger in teammate Dany Heatley's Ferrari when Heatley spun off the road and smashed into a brick and wrought iron fence.
It seems simple enough, but in recent years, MSU has had a problem keeping control of the football.With the re-emergence of quarterback Jeff Smoker and linebacker Mike Labinjo, one of the major reasons for the Spartans' early success is winning the turnover battle.The past two seasons, the Spartans (5-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) gave up the football 52 times and gained it on an opposition turnover 44 times.
In the middle of a recruiting season marred with wavering interest and flip-flopping commitments, the MSU football coaching staff finally got some good news Monday night.Tom Dance, a speedy 6-foot-2 all-around athlete from Erie Cathedral Preparatory School, verbally committed to the Spartans after an official recruiting trip this past weekend.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Charles Rogers broke his right collarbone in practice Tuesday. Rogers, a former Spartan who won the Biletnikoff Award last year at MSU, was taken to a hospital and is still being evaluated, according to Detroit Lions officials. Rogers "got tangled up" with cornerback Dre' Bly in the morning practice on Tuesday, head coach Steve Mariucci said. "(Rogers) went up for a pass and went down on his shoulder," Mariucci said.
With four games in the past, it is all even between The State News homegrown fantasy football gurus. A new season begins in Week Six - known in college football as Separation Saturday - when fantasy players start showing whether they will be consistent forces each week. Look for good football in Week Six as three of the NFL's weakest teams - Cincinnati, Detroit and San Diego - take the week off.
The No. 16 MSU volleyball team has reached the halfway point of the season. And luckily for the Spartans, they've done it with more positives than negatives. Even though it would like to be better than 10-4 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, the team is happy with its record and the prospects of the season's second half. "I'm happy with the record," senior libero and co-captain Emmy Miller said.
For the third straight week, an MSU player was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Spartans senior defensive end Greg Taplin recorded three sacks to lead the MSU defense in shutting down Indiana, 31-3. Taplin moved into second place in the conference in sacks along with teammate and junior defensive tackle Matthias Askew with six for the season.