To an outsider, it might seem Norman was living the college soccer dream. But for the senior midfielder, something just wasn’t right, and when the opportunity to return to his home state and play as a Spartan arose, he had to jump at it.
The corner kick is one of the most mystifying things in soccer. Each time the ball is kicked, it’s a crapshoot concerning what will happen next. It could be safely cleared out of play or pinball off of three players and go into the net.
After the passing game struggled to get off the ground in a 20-3 loss to No. 11 Notre Dame (3-0) on Saturday, the No. 21 MSU football team will spend this week looking for explanations and solutions to the offense’s weak showing.
Campus police reported about half as many arrests as the last Notre Dame home game, and the East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, also said numbers were surprisingly low.
When the MSU men’s soccer (2-5-1) team took the field Sunday against Marquette, it was just another must-win game for the players. For Tim Kreutz, it was personal.
The MSU volleyball team, off to its best start since 2009 and the third-best start in team history at 12-0, got some more good news after sweeping the Holiday Inn Charleston/Mt. Pleasant Tournament when junior middle blocker Alexis Mathews was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
MSU freshman forward Kenny Kaminski will be out four to six months after undergoing successful surgery on his right shoulder on Sept. 7 to repair a torn labrum, according to a release by the MSU athletics department.
As has been previously documented, the MSU field hockey team is currently without its starting center midfielder, sophomore Becky Stiles. Stiles is in Guadalajara, Mexico, with the U.S. under-21 team, competing in the under-21 Pan-American Games.
MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant announced Friday that sophomore guard Kiana Johnson and redshirt freshman forward Akyah Taylor have been suspended for the first nine games of the upcoming season, after NCAA guidelines “related to the receipt of extra benefits” were violated, according to a release by the MSU athletics department. “Both Kiana and Akyah are good student-athletes that made a bad decision this summer,” Merchant said in a statement.
Head coach Mark Dantonio said it was a “tough day at the office.” Junior linebacker Max Bullough called it an “eye-opener.” Offensive coordinator Dan Roushar said it was “frustrating.”
It was the interceptions Max Bullough and Chris Norman just couldn’t quite grab. It was the touchdown that bounced off Bennie Fowler’s hands. It was the near-blocked punt that became a roughing the kicker penalty. On a night when Notre Dame appeared to make every big play, the Spartans couldn’t manage to just get out of their own way. By the end of the night, No.
The morning after most home football games, East Lansing is comparable to a party war zone -— streets filled with broken glass, lawns littered with red solo cups and trash scattered throughout the city.
In a chippy game against undefeated Big East opponent Marquette (7-0-0), the MSU men’s soccer team fell 2-1 in a double-overtime loss, bringing its record to 2-5-1.
Almost 100 minutes and one dramatic corner kick into the game, the MSU women’s soccer team beat Purdue 2-1 on a header by junior defender Annie Steinlage in overtime.
The MSU women’s golf team started the 2012 campaign off on the right foot with a strong showing of second place in the Mary Fossum Invitational this past weekend. MSU hosted the event (named after longtime great MSU women’s golf coach Mary Fossum) for the 29th time.
Fou Fonoti was unavailable to play against Notre Dame on Saturday, and a foot injury is expected to keep him out for an extended period of time.
The MSU field hockey team came into this weekend’s Auto-Owners Insurance MSU Invitational looking to bounce back from a pair of losses to Virginia and Northeastern the previous weekend. And with Friday’s win over American and Sunday’s overtime victory against Louisville, the Spartans did exactly that.
When Mark Dantonio looked at the box score following Saturday night’s game, he had one simple statement: “There’s not a lot there.” It was a struggle from start to finish, as the No. 10 MSU football team (2-1) fell to No. 20 Notre Dame (3-0) 20-3, with the Spartans offense never managing to reach the red zone.
For the defense, it was the first time this season an offensive touchdown was allowed. For junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell, it was the first time all season he was sacked (and then the second, third and fourth times soon after). And for the juniors and younger, it was their first ever loss in Spartan Stadium.
The No. 20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0) took an early 14-0 lead and cruised to a 20-3 victory over No. 10 MSU (2-1), as the Spartans offense failed to muster any real threat.