Minneapolis - It's all about the defense. Three days after torching Ohio State for 22 points and 12 rebounds, Minnesota guard Vincent Grier was shut down by MSU's defense as the No.
Earning top honors in all four individual events in its Big Ten opener against Ohio State barely earned the gymnastics team a win on Saturday.
Any article that you read about Munn Ice Arena will say it's one of the nicest college hockey facilities in the country.
The goal remains simple for the MSU hockey team - win three out of every four games the remainder of the regular season. After a split last weekend with Western Michigan, the Spartans (12-11-1 overall, 7-9-0 CCHA) will be forced to win both games this weekend, when they welcome Lake Superior for a two-game series at Munn Ice Arena, in order to accomplish their goal. "We know we have to win every game at home," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "It's plain and simple and none of them are going to be easy.
MSU gymnastics team tri-captain Sarah Alexander is starting off the 2005 season strong, despite a shoulder injury. Her final score of 39.150 won her the all-around title at the season-opener Jan.
The No. 20 MSU wrestling team will be busy at home this weekend as the Spartans host two dual meets at Jenison Field House. The Spartans will face Kent State on Friday and Ohio State on Sunday, and are feeling good going into the weekend. "I actually think we have the upper hand in this dual," said sophomore Andy Simmons on facing Ohio State, who tied for third in the 2004 NCAA Championship. Head coach Tom Minkel said his team matches up well. "They're not as strong a team as they were last year, but they're always a good team," he said. The Spartans are coming off a long week as their trip to Oklahoma was plagued by bad weather, airport closings, traffic jams and flight cancellations. "We are starting to come out of it," said Minkel of the fatigue his team faced.
The junior guard led MSU to three straight home wins this past week. She had 17 points against Iowa, 14 points against Wisconsin, and 20 points against Minnesota. The State News: As a junior this year, looking back, is this where you pictured the program being at this point when you came to MSU? Bowen: I've always pictured winning a national championship since I was younger.
After scoring a team-leading 22 goals in the 2003-04 season, forward Mike Lalonde was expected to pick up where he left off to start his senior year at MSU. After a slow start, Lalonde suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for the majority of December, only posting one goal at the time of his injury. Lalonde's return to the lineup for the first game of the Great Lakes Invitational tournament against New Hampshire was well received when he scored a goal in MSU's 4-3 overtime win - and he didn't stop there. In the six games that Lalonde has played since returning from injury, he has scored in three of them, including a huge game-winning tally last Saturday over Western Michigan. "I definitely feel like the injury is healed," Lalonde said following Saturday's 3-1 win.
Injured icers making progress for return Junior forward David Booth and senior forward Kevin Estrada were scratched from the lineup last weekend because of sickness, which they picked up on a recent road trip to Miami (Ohio). Booth's illness was taken more seriously than originally diagnosed, when he lost more than 20 pounds and wasn't eating.
For the first 19:56 of the game, MSU junior guard Maurice Ager looked to be repeating his performance from Sunday's game in which he finished 1-of-8.
The dust has settled after week two of Big Ten play, and two teams remain undefeated - Michigan and Illinois. But both squads are hitting the heart of Big Ten scheduling.
The No. 8 MSU women's basketball team will head out on the road this week for two games after being home for three straight games.
Place-kicker Dave Rayner played in the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday, kicking a 29-yard field goal and five extra points for the East team. The East defeated the West 45-27 in the annual game held in San Francisco. Rayner also will join fellow seniors DeAndra Cobb and Ronald Stanley to represent the East in the Jan.
Little did the Spartans know, but the MSU wrestling team was in for an adventure on its way to a Thursday night dual meet against Oklahoma State. "Remember that movie 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' with Steve Martin and John Candy?" asked head wrestling coach Tom Minkel during the Monday press conference, "That was us." And he was being modest. The Spartans' adventure began with a 1 p.m.
MSU quarterback Drew Stanton was named team MVP for his sophomore 2004 season. Stanton threw for 1,601 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions and ran for 687 yards and five touchdowns in 2004.
Men's soccer forward John Minagawa-Webster was drafted in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft on Friday by the Kansas City Wizards. Minagawa-Webster, who had 25 goals, 17 assists and 67 points in his time at MSU, becomes the first MSU player ever chosen in the 10-year history of the draft.
The MSU men's and women's tennis teams were in action over the weekend as the men went 2-0 at home against Northern Illinois and Wright State and the women lost to Virginia in Nashville, Tenn. The No.
The MSU men's track and field team sprung into action over the weekend at the Kentucky Invitational, led by a strong showing by the pole vaulters.
Former MSU field hockey standout and current volunteer assistant coach Alexandra Kyser has been selected to the U.S.
MSU head coach Rick Comley said he didn't sleep Friday night. After watching his Spartans fall 5-4, despite a hat trick off the stick of sophomore forward Drew Miller, and registering 50 shots to Western Michigan's 25, Comley and the Spartans were heartbroken and looking for answers. Comley said the loss was frustrating "more than you can possibly imagine." Normally, when a team doubles the shots of its opponent, it wins.