It didn't take long for MSU head coach Rick Comley to say what everybody at Tuesday's Green and White intrasquad hockey scrimmage was thinking when the final horn sounded at Munn Ice Arena. "I thought (sophomore goaltender) Jeff Lerg played really well," Comley said smiling.
Before heading to Ann Arbor on Sunday for a rivalry game against Michigan, the MSU men's soccer team will travel to Oakland for a 4 p.m.
Each week, State News football reporter Ethan Conley offers his own Top 10 college football rankings. No.
For the 2006-07 Spartans hockey season, two different student-ticket packages are being offered. The packages are similar to those for football and allow for an upgrade into the official MSU hockey student section, Slapshots. One package offers admission to all 17 regular-season home games, excluding the CCHA playoffs, should the Spartans host a home series.
A day after being labeled as probable for the Michigan game, it seems MSU senior quarterback Drew Stanton will be starting under center Saturday. "I have no doubt (he'll play)," senior center Kyle Cook said after Tuesday's practice.
The worst-case scenario is now reality. Sophomore running back Javon Ringer is out for the season. However, senior quarterback Drew Stanton is probable for Saturday's game against Michigan. During the second quarter of MSU's 23-20 loss to Illinois on Saturday, Ringer went down with an injured right knee after gaining three yards on a screen pass.
The trees' leaves are starting to change colors, the weather is becoming a little more frigid, a would-be promising football season is once again down the toilet and the 2006-07 MSU hockey team is just about ready to kick off a new season in defense of a CCHA playoff championship.
Monday Musings For the first time in more than 30 years, Notre Dame will make 5,000 season tickets available to football games starting next season. The fee for the tickets will help pay for more than $40 million in repairs to Notre Dame Stadium, as well as Charlie Weis' months of post-slap therapy. Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was ejected from his team's game Sunday after stomping on Dallas center Andre Gurode's face. Haynesworth said he plans to appeal any suspension because, come on, Gurode's face does kind of look like a Dance Dance Revolution board. For the second straight season, only selected MSU football players will be available to the media before this Saturday's game against Michigan. Team officials said the rest of the team will be unavailable to give interviews because they'll be busy making sure no one plants any flags at Spartan Stadium.
On paper, the mismatches couldn't have been any more glaring. Illinois hadn't beaten MSU in its last nine tries, had only defeated one in-conference opponent in three years and had a true freshman nicknamed "Juice" taking the snaps from center. MSU had every reason to come out with guns blazing — what better way to erase the memory of last week's fourth-quarter implosion against Notre Dame than to drop 50 points on a Big Ten doormat? But what they lacked in talent, history and experience, the Fighting Illini made up for with the intangibles that seem to matter most in college football games. Intestinal fortitude.
If you want to point fingers as to why MSU lost to Illinois, there's plenty of blame to go around.
After back-to-back 1-0 home losses against Indiana and Purdue over the weekend, the MSU women's soccer team dropped to 0-3 in Big Ten play.
By Matt Benjamin For The State News It was Homecoming on Saturday, and the celebration was on at the Charles McCaffree Pool in IM Sports-West, where the 51st annual Alumni Swim Meet was held.
Coaching is more than a simple task of motivating a group of 18- to 22-year-olds to play hard on Saturdays.
It was a game that wasn't supposed to be close. MSU was expected to put up big offensive numbers against Illinois Saturday, answering any questions about the lingering effects of the Notre Dame collapse. But after a disappointing 23-20 loss, the Spartans failed to respond to that question and raised many more about an offense that put up just 259 total yards. "We should be able to put up 40 points on Illinois," senior center Kyle Cook said.
As the ball rolled into the goal, several MSU men's soccer players fell to the ground, stunned at how the game had just ended in front of them.
MSU men's soccer senior goalkeeper Jason Tillman has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks. Tillman was honored after posting consecutive shutouts against Bowling Green and Wisconsin last week.
By the slimmest of margins, the No. 5 MSU hockey team was picked as the early favorite in the CCHA Coaches Poll, which was announced Wednesday at the league's Media Day. Although the Spartans had the most first-place votes in the media poll, No.
Each week, State News football reporter Ethan Conley offers his own Top 10 college football rankings. No.
Chris Lawrence only scored two goals last year on the MSU hockey team's fourth line. But because of his blue-collar work ethic and leadership, Lawrence's teammates unanimously voted him team captain this May. "I just kind of took it upon myself to step up and be a leader (last season)," Lawrence said Monday at Media Day.
If there's one big question mark for head coach Rick Comley and the 2006-07 MSU hockey team, it's the status of the team's defense after the key offseason losses of Jared Nightingale and Corey Potter. "I think our talent's fine at that position, but it's not proven," Comley said Monday at Media Day. The No.