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Sports

FOOTBALL

Players, coaches: We haven't quit

Minneapolis, Minn. — The sun was shining brightly over East Lansing during the month of September for the MSU football team. The team started out 4-0 and was riding high after an overtime victory at Notre Dame followed by a 61-point effort at Illinois. Then, something happened.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans swept at home as UNO takes two

The MSU hockey team had fewer than 30 seconds left to play before escaping Saturday with a tie. But Nebraska-Omaha forward Scott Parse picked up the puck on a turnover behind the MSU net and fed it up to forward Bill Thomas, who beat MSU freshman goaltender Jeff Lerg on the bottom corner with 27.2 seconds left in overtime. With the 3-2 win, the Mavericks completed a weekend sweep over the No.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Wrestlers host preseason event

The MSU wrestling team will host the Michigan State Open at Jenison Field House this Saturday and Sunday in preseason wrestling action. Although no team scores are kept for the tournament, medals are awarded to the top eight wrestlers in each weight class.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: MSU hosts tennis tourney this weekend

The MSU men's tennis team is set to host the Big Ten Indoor Championship this weekend in the second tournament of the Spartans' fall season. The Spartans will be represented by sophomore Nick Rinks, juniors Joseph McWilliams and Michael Flowers, and freshmen Alex Forger, John Allare and Scott Rasmussen out of a 64-player main draw. The tournament will start at 9 a.m.

SPORTS

Spartans host GVSU Sunday

The No. 10 MSU women's basketball team will have one more chance to tune up for the regular season when it hosts Grand Valley State in an exhibition game at 2 p.m.

BASKETBALL

Don't worry Brown will play

The men's basketball team was given a brief scare recently when one of its most indispensable players went down with an injury. Junior guard Shannon Brown sustained a bruised rib during an exhibition game Monday against Lake Superior State when he collided with redshirt freshman forward Marquise Gray.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Irish visit East Lansing for meet

The MSU men's swimming and diving team will host No. 18 Notre Dame at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Charles McCaffree Pool. These two teams have split the last four contests between each other. The Spartans enter the match with a 1-2 dual meet record and Notre Dame enters with a 2-1 record.

SOCCER

MSU wins in 1st round

With a great defensive effort, the men's soccer team moved one step closer to another Big Ten Tournament title by defeating rival Michigan 1-0 Thursday. "We played the best second half we have had all year," head coach Joe Baum said.

SOCCER

Time to defend crown

After winning the Big Ten Tournament last season, the MSU men's soccer team has a steep hill to climb to do it again. The Spartans (7-5-5) are entering this year's tournament as the No.

FOOTBALL

MSU can still have impact on top of conference race

After another week, the Big Ten title picture is as muddy as it ever was. The game with the most importance in the title picture this week is Northwestern traveling to Ohio Stadium to face Ohio State. Both teams could still win a share of the Big Ten title, but will need help from MSU to do so. If the Spartans defeat Penn State on Nov.

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball heads to Ann Arbor tonight

Having won only two of its last 10 matches in conference play, the floundering MSU volleyball team will head to Ann Arbor on Wednesday in an attempt to resurrect its season. The Spartans (11-13 overall, 4-10 Big Ten), sitting in a three-way tie for eighth in the Big Ten, will face off against Michigan at 7 p.m.

FOOTBALL

Talk of bowl game bothers John L. Smith

After MSU's 28-21 loss at Purdue this past weekend, the last thing on head coach John L. Smith's mind was becoming eligible for a bowl berth following a victory. "It just bothers me when I hear us going out the door to play the game, to walk on the field, to, 'Let's go get a bowl game,'" Smith said.

SPORTS

Women's soccer loses heartbreaker

MSU sophomore defender Erin Doan walks back to midfield as members of the Wisconsin team celebrate senior midfielder Amy Vermeulen's game-winning goal in the semifinal game of the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament on Friday at Michigan Soccer Field in Ann Arbor.