MSU hockey (13-13-2, 7-5-2-2 Big Ten) rebounded from a 2-1 loss on Friday with a 3-0 shutout over Wisconsin (4-20-4, 2-10-2 Big Ten). Junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand finished with 31 saves and junior forward Ryan Keller notched two goals in the victory. Sophomore forward Thomas Ebbing added his third goal of the season, and junior captain Michael Ferrantino collected two assists.
A complete turnaround for the Spartans since the end of last year has finally taken shape with three games remaining of the regular-season. And it's not for the better. Unlike the 2014 program who fought their way to the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling short to North Carolina, MSU's long and treacherous journey in hopes of receiving a bid at The Big Dance starts at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill, the site of the 2015 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. If the season ended today, Suzy Merchant's squad would face last place Penn State in the first round as an 11th seed.
MSU hockey (12-13-2, 6-5-2-2 Big Ten) dropped a disappointing contest to a struggling Wisconsin (4-19-4, 2-9-2 Big Ten). The Badgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two second period goals, and only sophomore forward Joe Cox could score in the third period on way to a 2-1 loss. Junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand finished with 16 saves on the night, while UW’s Joel Rumpel notched 33 saves in the Badgers victory.
The 2015 season will be a key year for MSU as a program, the team is losing several key pieces but the Spartans still have enough talent coming in and returning to be good again.
Three weeks ago, the men's basketball team hit rock bottom, suffering perhaps its worst loss of Big Ten season against Illinois at Breslin Center.
The No. 60 men's tennis team the No. 22 Memphis Tigers Thursday evening on the Spartans home court. The match started with a very competitive set of doubles matches.
Women’s golf shot a 304 in their first round of the season, at the Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
It’s been an unpredictable year so far for Big Ten hockey with many over performing teams and players.
To put the Rutgers' season into perspective, read the plot line of the Friday the 13th movie. Rutgers, otherwise known as Jason Voorhees, the hockey mask wearing serial killer who stalks and torments camp counselors, is the metaphor to how well the first-year Big Ten conference participant have performed since joining the conference. Just like Voorhees, the body count is towering this year for the Scarlet Knights, winners of eight of the last 10 games.
Softball went 3-2 in the Florida Atlantic Tournament over the weekend, bumping their overall to 7-3.
If the gymnastics team wants to build on the momentum of last weekend’s victory over Pittsburgh, they will have to improve in one key event. Beams. The Spartans (6-4 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) defeated Pittsburgh 195.150-194.275 on Sunday but for the third consecutive meet, MSU was outscored on beams. “Beam was again really rough,” head coach Kathie Klages said and even went as far as to call the event MSU’s “nemesis.” In the ten team Big Ten conference, the Spartans are ranked 8th in balance beam event, which is tied for vault as their worst event. “We changed the lineup on beam to try and see if we could get someone to stay on the beam and we definitely had our issues,” Klages said. Senior Alina Cartwright, who was voted a 2015 Big Ten gymnast to watch before the season, has returned to the lineup and could be the answer the MSU is looking for, but she has only competed in the bars event so far. “We’re really excited to have Alina back,” Klages said.
MSU needs its top three players to perform well on a nightly basis, but don’t be too quick to overlook sophomore forward Gavin Schilling’s importance. Schilling’s numbers can stem from the play of his guards and the other players feeding him the ball, but when he does get going offensively, he’s proven his value to MSU.
The senior duo of Travis Trice and Branden Dawson combined for 55 points against Michigan on Tuesday night.
The basic principle of sports is to score more points than the opponent.
Heading into Tuesday night’s rivalry game, MSU’s seniors hadn’t defeated Michigan at Crisler Center in their careers.
The men's baseball team is coming off of a solid start to the season, the team traveled Surprise College Baseball Classic in Arizona going 2-1 in three games. The team opened with a 9-3 win over New Mexico on Friday, their second game of the weekend was 4-3 loss to Oregon State in extra innings on Saturday, the third and final game saw the team rebound against Northwestern with a 3-2 win on Sunday.
Heading into Tuesday night’s rivalry game, MSU’s seniors hadn’t defeated Michigan at Crisler Center in their careers.
Ann Arbor, Mich. It took MSU five 3-point tries before their first make. But when senior guard Travis Trice sank a triple with 13:46 seconds left in the first half, the proverbial lid came off for MSU. The Spartans made 5-of-13 3-pointers and shot 59.3 percent in first half against rival U-M Tuesday night and lead 38-23 at halftime.
One of MSU’s most dangerous weapons has just been sharpened. to the starting lineup, the Spartans boast a fast-break that can attack some of the best defenses in the league.
It’s not just the men’s team who has let a victory slip out of their hands thanks to a dreadful performance at the free-throw line. Faced with the endeavor of knocking off the No.