AHC/co-STC/RBs coach Keith Bhonapha:
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Quarterback Aidan Chiles:
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Tight end Jack Velling:
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Carson Cooper talked frankly about the upcoming season. There were three areas of focus for himself and for the team as a whole that he brought up at a recent press availability. It'll be interesting to see how the season unfolds with these in mind.

Smith said the team held a players-only meeting Sunday night to sharpen their focus on how to move forward from the rivalry game and on to undefeated Indiana.

Smith says MSU appealed LB Jordan Turner's second-half targeting penalty, and the Big Ten denied it. He will sit out the first half Saturday vs. Indiana per NCAA targeting rules.


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MSU coach Jonathan Smith on his first Michigan game : "That thing is different, that thing is important." Says, "I will not forget that thing, but we do gotta move on to to a big time opponent."

Jonathan Smith: "We will not forget Saturday night, I promise you that."

Smith says MSU had a player and staff member in the pile where Michigan RB Kalel Mullings was caught on video stomping. That is something the Big Ten will be examining, he adds.

Smith says he believes MSU long snapper Kaden Schickel will miss the rest of the season.


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Smith says Haller has been in contact with the Big Ten about the postgame altercation at Michigan.

MSU AD Alan Haller if he planned to approach Washtenaw County about pressing charges for the altercation: "I don't plan on doing that. I don't think that situation should have been a criminal incident, and I don't, I don't think this should be as well.

Haller: "This is a sportsmanship policy situation and the conference will look at it. And it's my wish that the same standard that everyone's held to, that (U-M) be held to the same standard. But I do not believe that incident or this incident is a criminal situation."

Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller on the scuffle following Saturday's game:
“I was out on the field immediately. I didn't see any of the things that I’ve since seen on videotape. I did call the (Big Ten) commissioner immediately after the game. I thought the sportsmanship policy should be applied. I requested that the Big Ten look at this.
"Look, I've played four of these, and the emotions are high. This game is not like anything that any of our teams play in throughout the year. The emotions are high. I can't play in the game anymore, but when we play that team, I'm just going to make sure that our kids have a fair playing field and that we are held to the same standards as everybody else.”


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Jonathan Smith says not calling a timeout out on 4th-and-goal from the 2 on the first possession is one he'd love to have back.

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Smith on Indiana's QB situation, says he did not see much difference in operations between the two.

Class of 2026 running back Favour Akih, out of Hayes High School in Delaware, Ohio, recently visited Michigan State and received an offer from the Spartans shortly afterward.

He broke down the offer with @Lee Wardlaw and provided his thoughts on MSU assistant head coach/co-specials team coordinator/running backs coach Keith Bhonapha.

“He’s a really transparent guy," Akih said about Bhonapha. "He said he’s going to coach me hard, and that I would have to fight for my spot on the team. That’s just the competitive nature that I love about college football!”

Akih's family is originally from Cameroon and came over to the United States in 2010 when he was just 2 years old.

More here:

Sharing the MSU preview in this instance as it's for an exhibition game:

Michigan State Hosts Ferris State on Tuesday Night​

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team plays its final exhibition game before the start of the 2024-25 regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 29, hosting Ferris State at the Breslin Center.

The game tips off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on B1G+, with Matt Merrifield handling the play-by-play, Jack Steger serving as the color analyst and Marin Klein on sidelines. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play, Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst and Zach Surdenik is the studio host.

Northern Michigan Recap

• The Spartans played the first of two exhibition games this year on Sunday, Oct. 13, beating Northern Michigan, 70-53, in the Superior Dome Showdown in Marquette, Mich.
• Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored 11 points and sophomore forward Xavier Booker had 10 points as 11 different players scored for the Spartans.
• MSU shot 43.1 percent from the floor (22-of-51), including 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half, and hit 47.1 percent of its 3-point field goals (8-of-17).
• The exhibition game was the first visit for 30th-year Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo to his alma mater … Izzo graduated from Northern Michigan in 1977.

About the Spartans

• Michigan State finished the 2023-24 season with a 20-15 overall record, including a 10-10 mark in the Big Ten Conference to finish tied for sixth place in the league.
• The Spartans were selected for the NCAA Tournament for the 26th-straight season, the longest streak in Big Ten Conference history, the third-longest in NCAA history and officially recognized by the NCAA as the longest active streak.
• MSU beat Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to North Carolina in the second round.
• The Spartans will replace four starters who accounted for 61.7 percent of the team's scoring last year, 48.6 percent of the team's rebounds and 64.2 percent of the team's assists, led by guard Tyson Walker (All-Big Ten Second Team).
• MSU returns three players who started games last year, led senior guard Jaden Akins, who finished fourth on the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game while adding 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and tying for the team lead in 3-pointers made (64) … He was the only player to start all 35 games last year.
• Michigan State also returns seven letterwinners, and welcomes five newcomers, two transfers and three freshmen.
• Junior guard Tre Holloman emerged as a key player in the rotation as a sophomore, averaging 19.7 minutes per game while contributing 5.7 ppg, finishing second on the team with 2.4 apg and leading the team in 3-point field goal percentage (42.5%).
• Junior center Carson Cooper started the final four games of the season and appeared in all 35 games, averaging 3.4 points and 4.4 rebounds overall.

MSU Adds Two Transfers

• MSU welcomes in a pair of transfers in senior forward Frankie Fidler (Omaha) and senior center Szymon Zapala (Longwood/Utah State).
• Fidler, a 6-7, 217-pound forward, spent three years at Omaha and was named First Team All-Summit League in 2023-24 after averaging 20.1 points per game, 6.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
• Fidler started all 33 games for the Mavericks, connecting on 45.2 percent of his field goals, 35.6 percent of his 3-point attempts and a team-best 85.4 percent of his free throws (216-of-253).
• Zapala comes to Michigan State after one season at Longwood University in Virginia, helping guide the team to a 21-14 record as the Lancers won the Big South Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• A 7-0, 240-pound center who hails from Poland, Zapala averaged 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 16.7 minutes, connecting on 62.9 percent of his shots from the floor and starting in 23 of 35 games.

Three Newcomers Make Up Freshman Class

• The Spartans' recruiting class has been recognized nationally as one of the top-20 in the country (No. 16 by 247 Sports and No. 19 by ON3 Sports)
• The class includes guards Jase Richardson (the son of former Michigan State All-American Jason Richardson) and Kur Teng, along with forward Jesse McCulloch.

Michigan State Exhibition History

• Michigan State has played in-state exhibition games against 10 different schools in Michigan.
• The game against Ferris State on Tuesday night will be the fourth meeting between the schools.
• The teams last met on Oct. 27, 2021, a 92-58 Michigan State win at the Breslin Center.
• Gabe Brown led the Spartans with 19 points, while then-freshman guard Max Christie scored 17 points.
• Current senior guard Jaden Akins played 14 minutes off the bench, scoring 3 points, grabbing 3 rebounds and handing out 3 assists.
• Previous meetings were in 2017 (80-72 MSU win), 2015 (94-53 MSU win) and in 2011 (85-58 MSU).

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's women's golf team closes out the first half of the 2024-25 season this week, playing in The Landfall Tradition at the Country Club of Landfall's Pete Dye Course in Wilmington, N.C.

The Landfall Tradition will be played on the par-72, 6,178-yard rolling layout along the scenic Intracoastal Waterway near Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. The field of 17 teams includes seven teams ranked among the top-50 in the country in the latest NCAA rankings.

The three-day event tees off on Friday, Oct. 25 at 8:30 a.m. with 18 holes. The tournament continues on Saturday, Oct. 26 and concludes on Sunday, Oct. 27 with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
The Spartans tee off on the 10th hole on Friday morning at 10:09 a.m., playing alongside Florida State and UCF.

Dates: Friday, Oct. 25 - Sunday, Oct. 27
Course: Country Club of Landfall
Live Scoring: Golfstat
Par/Yardage: 72 / 6,178 yards
Format: Stroke play, 54 holes, play five, count four
Schedule: Friday – Round 1; Saturday – Round 2; Sunday – Round 3 (8:30 shotgun first two rounds, 8:45 a.m. in final round)

LINEUP
1. Brooke Biermann
2. Katie Lu
3. Taylor Kehoe
4. Catalina Monroy
5. Paula Balanzategui
IND. Ana Sofia Murcia

THE LANDFALL TRADITION FIELD
In addition to Michigan State (21), the field includes host UNC-Wilmington, Alabama, Clemson (35), Duke (20), Florida State (13), Furman, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina (12), NC State, Notre Dame, Ole Miss (17), Penn State, South Florida, UCF (40) and Virginia Tech.

LIVE SCORING
Golfstat.

LAST TIME OUT

• Michigan State entered the final round in the lead and battled back and forth through the final 18 holes with several teams before finishing in a tie for second place among 17 teams at the Tar Heel Invitational on Oct. 13
• The Spartans shot a final round 10-over par 290 and finished the three-day, 54-hole tournament with a score of 19-over par 859 (286-283-290).
• Senior Brooke Biermann shot an even-par 70 in the final round and was the top finisher for Michigan State, tying for 11th place at 5-over par 215 (71-74-70). She was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week for the second time this year after her finish.
• Senior Katie Lu was one shot back, tying for 15th place at 6-over par 216 (73-69-74).
• Junior Taylor Kehoe and freshman Catalina Monroy both posted scores of 7-over par 217 and tied for 19th place. Kehoe shared low MSU round of the day honors with Biermann at even-par 70 (71-76-70), while Monroy closed with a 6-over par 76 (74-67-76).

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

• The Spartans are looking to close out the Fall season with another strong finish as the team has finished among the top-five in three events during the Fall season.
• Michigan State is ranked No. 21 in the country in the NCAA rankings.
• MSU opened the season tying for fourth place at the inaugural Folds of Honor Collegiate and followed that up with back-to-back second place finishes.
• The Spartans shot a 2-under par 862 and placed second at the Mary Fossum Invitational and then tied for second place at the Tar Heel Invitational.
• Senior Brooke Biermann, who is ranked No. 21 individual in the NCAA rankings, leads the team with a 71.11 scoring average and has been the team's top finisher in the first three events.
• Senior Katie Lu is third on the team with a 72.89 scoring average and has a top-10 finish and two top-20 this year, her best finish a tie for ninth place at the Mary Fossum Invitational.
• Junior Taylor Kehoe is fourth on the team with a 73.11 scoring average and has a top-10 finish and two top-20 this year, her best finish a tie for ninth place at the Mary Fossum Invitational.

SPARTANS AT THE LANDFALL TRADITION

• This year will mark the Spartans' 15th consecutive appearance at the Landfall Tradition.
• Overall, it's MSU's 17th time playing in the tournament, the second-most appearances overall.
• Michigan State finished in sixth place among 18 teams in last year's event, with Paula Balanzategui tying for seventh place at 6-under par 210.
• The Spartans had one of their best finishes in the tournament in 2017, taking third in the rain-shortened, two-round event.
• MSU holds the tournament record for the lowest team round with a 13-under-par 275 in 2015, while Sarah Burnham's 6-under-par 66 is tied for the lowest individual round and the lowest round by any player on Sunday in the event.
• A pair of Spartans in Sara Brown (2006) and Burnham (2015) have both claimed medalist honors at the Landfall.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Michigan State to host Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Xavier.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State women's tennis is set to host their first tournament of the season, the Michigan State Classic, presented by Auto-Owners Insurance from Friday-Sunday, Oct. 25-Oct. 27.

The Green and White host the first of two home tournament weekends. The match includes five teams- the Spartans, Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Xavier.

Each school sends four players to compete in the daily draws with singles and doubles matches both occurring throughout the day.

The matches take place at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center, all beginning at 10 a.m. each day. While the schedule is subject to change, each day will contain both singles and doubles matches from all five teams.

Michigan State sends four Spartans: freshman Amara Brahmbhatt, junior Matilde Morais, junior Issey Purser and redshirt sophomore Natalie Stasny.

Fans can follow the Tournament Central for results, updated schedule links and to watch live.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

The Spartans are gearing up to showcase their skills at the Louisville Classic.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. – With intense competition and a chance to make their mark for the upcoming season, Michigan State men's tennis aims to deliver great performances and build momentum for the season ahead.

Four Spartans will travel to participate in the Louisville Classic tournament Friday-Sunday, Oct 23-25. Freshmen Danial Rakhmatullayev and Mitchell Sheldon, junior David Saye, and senior Josh Portnoy.

Match play will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday. All four Spartans will compete in singles matches with no double matches going on this weekend.

One match will take place on Friday, followed by two matches on Saturday and ending out the weekend with the finals on Sunday.

The teams participating this weekend are Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee, and Michigan State.

Spartans are looking forward to preparing for the upcoming weekend where they will split up and head to three different tournaments across the country.

Up next for the Spartans is B1G Indoor Championships, ITA Conference Masters and ITA Sectionals which all take place on Nov. 7-10.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State goalkeeper Lyra Gavino (New Malden, England) has been named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28.

Gavino backstopped the Spartans to a 2-1 overtime victory over Iowa last Friday with a 10-save effort, then tied her career best in single-game saves (17) on Sunday against No. 1 Northwestern. She made 11 first-half stops to keep the game scoreless against the Wildcats overall, and faced 43 shot attempts overall in the game.

The sophomore ranks first among all Big Ten keepers in shots faced (252) and saves (97), and second overall in minutes played (997). In Conference games only, her league-leading 67 saves is nearly double Northwestern's Annabel Skubisz, who is second with 38. Her .779 save percentage in Conference games ranks third, and her shots faced (155) in B1G play is more than one-third more than Iowa's Mia Magnotta's 105.

Gavino has four double-digit save performances this season – she originally established her career best of 17 last Sunday in a tough OT road setback at Penn State, and previously had 10 both against Iowa on Friday and also in a non-conference game against Miami (10/1).

The Spartans wrap up the regular season on Friday with a road game at Indiana.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

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Sometimes, great minds think alike.

I came up with the theme for this week's recap sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning. I once again decided to go with a 20th century music reference (you're welcome). I was maybe 2/3 of the way through my first draft on Sunday when I saw that @jacobcotsonika put out an article with a similar theme: MSU blew an opportunity this weekend. Today, it seems as thought Coach Smith made similar comments as well.

So, yeah. That all checks out. MSU should have beaten Michigan this weekend, but they didn't get it done. It's frustrating, but at the end of the day, this loss is not hitting me as hard as others in the rivalry have.

I am not talking about last year, though. Michigan fans love to use the "49-0" on twitter, but I don't think I am in the minority when I say that I couldn't care less about that game. MSU was a rudderless, broken team facing a bunch of known cheaters. Who cares? In no time, that score is just the line in a Wikipedia article. But Michigan's crimes will continue to live in infamy. Other losses were way worse to swallow.

But back to this year's game.

As I wrote, this game simply mattered more to the Wolverines than it did to the Spartans. I don't think that any "motivation gap" changed the outcome, but the fact is that MSU is currently over-achieving and ahead of schedule. Michigan is bad underachieving to the point that the sky is falling. A loss to MSU would very likely have set them on a path to a 5-7 record and no bowl. It would have been a disaster. Now, both teams are on track for a 6-6 record. That is still a disaster for Michigan and it is still a bit better than expected for MSU.

I am not saying that 6-6 is awesome, but based on where both teams were 10 months ago, MSU is still coming out WAY on top based on expectations, and happiness is in general the difference between reality and expectation. Would MSU's bowl at 7-5 or 8-4 really been that much "better" than at 7-5 or 6-6? Not really. But Michigan not making a bowl? That would have been hilarious.

The most fun outcome that I can see for the end of the season is for MSU to steal a win over Indiana or Illinois to finish at 7-5. Michigan is likely headed for 6-6 unless they pull a major upset. In that scenario, I can just see the Wolverines working the phones and begging the Guaranteed Rate Bowl to take them over MSU to avoid the "embarrassment" of playing in the old Motor City Bowl in Detroit. That would be even funnier.

Anyway, please enjoy this week's edition of Against All Odds.

Hello from Spartan Stadium.

Jonathan Smith will step to the podium for his weekly presser at about noon ET.

We will be streaming it on our TikTok page here:


EDIT:

Here is the video of Smith's presser:

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Michigan State lost its third straight game to arch rival Michigan on Saturday. Now that we’ve had some time for the dust to settle a bit, here are my takeaways from the game:

Julia Ayrault will take on her sister, Annabel, against the Warriors.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball open's the 2024-25 season with its only exhibition against Wayne State on Monday, Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. The Spartans look to keep their momentum going after a strong first season of the Robyn Fralick era. MSU ended last season with a 22-9 record reaching the NCAA Tournament. Joe DesVergnes and Derrick Mitchell will be on the call for B1G+.

• The game against Wayne State features a family reunion. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault will face off against her sister, Annabel, who is a sophomore for the Warriors. Andy Ayrault, Julia and Annabel's father, is also an assistant coach for WSU. Ayrault is in his second season as an assistant with the Warriors.

• Last season, Wayne State went 16-12 overall and 9-9 in the GLIAC. Shea Tripp and Gabi Lutchka both return to the Warriors after earning all-conference honors last season. Tripp led the team in scoring with 13.4 ppg, while Lutchka was second with 12.1 ppg.

• The Spartans return two All-Big Ten selections in first-team All-Big Ten guard/forward Julia Ayrault and Sixth Player of the Year guard Theryn Hallock. Ayrault was first on the team in scoring last season, averaging 15.4 ppg, while Hallock was fourth with 11.2 ppg. MSU returns three starters in Ayrault, junior guard Abbey Kimball and senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate.

• Michigan State women's basketball will have at least seven games nationally televised on either the Big Ten Network, FS1 or Peacock. MSU will also have 18 regular-season contests aired on Big Ten Plus. Michigan State's first televised game will be its B1G home opener against Iowa on Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. in East Lansing on BTN. The Hawkeyes reached the National Championship game two-straight seasons. It is the Spartans only televised game in December.

SCOUTING WAYNE STATE
The Spartans will take on Division II Wayne State who play in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Warriors return All-GLIAC honorees Shea Tripp and Gabi Lutchka from last season's squad that went 16-12 overall. Tripp earned first-team honors, averaging 13.4 ppg. Lutchka was named to the second team and was second on the team in scoring with 12.1 ppg. Head coach Carrie Lohr is in her 14th season at the helm of the Warriors.

Last season, Wayne State averaged scored 70.8 ppg, while allowing 68.7 ppg. The Warriors and the Spartans have met only once in exhibition play with MSU coming out on top, 79-47.

FAMILY REUNION
The Wayne State game is more than an exhibition for the Ayrault family. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault will face off with her sister, Annabel, who is a sophomore guard for the Warriors. Their father, Andy, is in his second season as an assistant coach for Wayne State.

Andy Ayrault was also a four-year letterwinner at Wayne State from 1989-93. Julia and Annabel's mother, Kim, also played basketball at WSU (1990-94), playing in 88 games. Annabel's twin brother, Adam, is a member of the Wayne State men's basketball team, while Julia's twin brother, Joe, was a manager with the MSU women's team.

BRINGING THE BOOM
For the 2024-25 season, Michigan State women's introduced its new student section - the Breslin Boom. First introduced by Coach Fralick at Michigan State Madness, Spartan students will be encouraged to yell "BOOM" on any big MSU plays.

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
Michigan State will play seven teams that are ranked in the preseason top 25 polls (AP/Coaches Poll), led by No. 3/3 USC (Feb. 16) and No. 5/6 UCLA (Feb. 19). At the West Palm Beach Classic, the Spartans will take on No. 24/25 Alabama. Big Ten teams Ohio State (No. 14/14), Maryland (No. 18/18), Nebraska (No. 23/23) and Indiana (No. 25/24) are all ranked in the preseason polls.

BRINGING THE EXPERIENCE
Michigan State adds four transfers with a wealth of experience. Graduate Nyla Hampton comes to MSU very familiar with Coach Fralick and the Spartan coaching staff. She was at Bowling Green for three seasons before playing last season at Ball State. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons played four seasons at Arizona State. MSU also welcomes juniors Grace VanSlooten from Oregon and Emma Shumate from Ohio State.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced guard/forward Julia Ayrault and guard Nyla Hampton as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2024-25 women's basketball team.

This is Ayrault's second season as a captain for the Spartans. She is the first Spartan to be a captain in back-to-back seasons since Jenna Allen during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

Hampton is in her first season with the Spartans, but is familiar with head coach Robyn Fralick. She played three seasons with Bowling Green before transferring to Ball State last season.

GUESS WHO'S BACK
Despite losing two of its top three scorers, Michigan State still returns a quite potent offense. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault led the team in scoring with 15.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Off the bench, junior guard Theryn Hallock scored 12.3 ppg, which was fourth on the team. MSU lost second-leading scorer Moira Joiner (14.7 ppg) to graduation and third-leading scorer DeeDee Hagemann (12.3 ppg) to transfer.

LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE
For the fourth-straight season, the Big Ten Conference will play an 18-game schedule. MSU also played an 18-game schedule in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. The conference additionally had 18-game schedules in both 2015-16 and 2014-15. This season, the B1G adds four additional teams in Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.

Nine of the Spartans' 2024-25 regular-season opponents competed in the NCAA Tournament last season, as MSU will take on either Arizona or Vanderbilt in the Acrisure Classic. From the Big Ten portion of the schedule, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, UCLA and USC reached the NCAA Tournament.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

MSU FOOTBALL "HOPING TO WIN vs. EXPECTING TO WIN"
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The Spartans' football game with the Wolverines played out much like the loss to Boston College. In both games, it appeared that MSU outplayed their opponent. In both games, there was a kick return blunder, and in both games, gadget pass plays helped their opponent win.

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It’s been a day and a half since Michigan State fell on the road to in-state rival Michigan 24-17 in Jonathan Smith’s first crack at the Wolverines as head coach of the Spartans, and he is still frustrated at the missed opportunities his team left on the field in Ann Arbor Saturday night.

“I think for me, it kind of crystallized Saturday night,” Smith said at his press conference on Monday. “Leading into it, (I) knew it was important, rivalry, emotions are going, but now truly experiencing it for the first time, that thing is different, that thing is important. That’s why it’s so frustrating to feel like we could have done a few things better. But, you got to move onto the next week and whatnot, but you will not forget, after experiencing that sucker, I will not forget that thing.”

More from Smith:

Spartans Illustrated photographer @MarvHall captured 73 images from Michigan State's 24-17 loss to rival Michigan on Saturday.

Check the photos out here. @KLuce98 provides the text:

He spoke about the skirmish after the game. Here are notes and quotes from Haller:

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Important to note that PFF's grading scale is approximately the following;

PFF Grading Scale
90+ - Elite
80 to 89 - Great
70 to 79 - Good
60 to 69 - Average to Above Average
50 - 59 - Below Average
49 and below - Poor

OVERALL TEAM GRADES

OFFENSE (65 SNAPS)


DEFENSE (52 SNAPS)

Monday, Oct. 28​

Women's basketball: vs. Wayne State (exhibition)
6:30 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
W 101-40

Tuesday, Oct. 29​

Men's soccer: at Ohio State
6 p.m. BTN
Discussion Thread
D 2-2

Men's basketball: vs. Ferris State (exhibition)
7 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
W 85-67

Friday, Nov. 1​

Cross country: Big Ten Cross Country Championships (Champaign, Ill.)
Discussion Thread

Women's tennis: Spartan Invite
Discussion Thread

Field hockey: at Indiana
3 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
L 0-1

Volleyball: vs. Minnesota
6 p.m.
Discussion Thread
L 0-3

Saturday, Nov. 2​

Women's tennis: Spartan Invite
Discussion Thread

Wrestling: at American
1 p.m.
Discussion Thread
W 20-12

Football: vs. Indiana
3:30 p.m. Peacock
Discussion Thread
L 10-47

Women's soccer: vs. Rutgers (St. Paul, Minn.)
4:30 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
L 1-2

Sunday, Nov. 3​

Women's tennis: Spartan Invite
Discussion Thread

Volleyball: vs. Ohio State
12 p.m.
Discussion Thread
L 1-3

Men's soccer: vs. Rutgers
1 p.m. BTN+
Discussion Thread
L 0-1

EAST LANSING, Mich. - A pair of late second-half goals propelled No. 18 Michigan State women's soccer to a 3-1 victory over Purdue in the Spartans' regular-season finale Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium.

MSU moves to 12-1-5 overall with the win and wraps up the Big Ten portion of its schedule at 7-1-3. Purdue ends its season at 7-9-2 (3-7-1 B1G).

The Spartans secure the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with the win and will face fifth-seeded Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 4:30 p.m. ET in the first of four quarterfinal games at Minnesota's Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. MSU and Rutgers battled to a 1-1 draw in East Lansing on Sept. 29 this season.

"The first half I thought we played pretty well, we had much of the territory," said head coach Jeff Hosler. "We had a lot of the ball, obviously had the goal. We were generating chances. The biggest takeaway is that, our team, when we're playing well and playing with urgency, I think we're one of the best teams in the country. The good thing is we have another week of training how to get ready for our first Big Ten tournament game."

Graduate forward Mackenzie Anthony opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, registering her fourth goal of the season. Freshman midfielder Kaleigh McPherson tallied the unassisted game winner in the 82nd minute before graduate forward Meg Hughes added an 84th-minute insurance goal to secure the victory for the Spartans. In goal, graduate goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks notched her 10th win of the season, making four saves in 90 minutes in goal.

Neither side was able to get much going in the opening 10 minutes despite a strong spell of possession from the Spartans. After Anthony had a shot blocked in the second minute, the next shot of the game came from graduate midfielder Justina Gaynor, who sent a high-flying ball over the crossbar in the 12th minute.

Purdue's Lexi Fraley got the Boilermakers' only shot of the half off in the 14th minute, but Parks was there to make the easy save to keep the game scoreless. Anthony forced the first Purdue save of the game just minutes later.

In the 23rd minute, Anthony found a loose ball in the six-yard box after Purdue goalkeeper Emily Edwards' pass slipped by Anthony's foot. Her shot went past Edwards and a Purdue defender just over the goal line to give MSU the 1-0 lead.

MSU continued to dominate the half after the Anthony goal, earning four corners while forcing a pair of saves in the final 20 minutes of the half. Despite generating several chances, MSU could not find the back of the net again, taking its 1-0 lead into the break.

The Spartans opened the second half strong with four-consecutive corner chances but could not convert for a second goal. In the 55th minute, a cross from Gaynor found the foot of Najera just outside the six, but her shot went high.

After two more shots from the Spartans, Parks made a diving save in the 62nd minute after Purdue's Gracie Dunaway ripped a shot from the top of the box to the top right corner of the net. A minute later, Dunaway equalized, sending another ball above Parks to the corner of the net in the 63rd minute.

The Boilermakers had a strong stretch of possession after the Dunaway equalizer, holding the Spartans without a shot for nearly 20 minutes while sending another pair of shots into the gloves of Parks.

A yellow card on Purdue's bench in the 80th minute gave the Spartans the momentum they needed. Sophomore defender Renee Watson forced a Purdue save before the Spartans were rewarded with a corner a minute later. Watson's corner kick found a Purdue defender, whose attempt at a clearance went straight to the foot of McPherson. Taking advantage of an opening, McPherson sent a left-footed blast to the right center of the net for the first goal of her Spartan career and a 2-1 MSU lead with under 10 minutes to go.

Continuing to pour on the offense, graduate midfielder Gabby Mueller played a ball into the box for Anthony, who found Hughes at the top of the six. Hughes slid the ball past Purdue goalkeeper Claire Wyville for the insurance goal in the 84th minute.

MSU fired off two more shots and kept Purdue to just one off-target shot in the final minutes to secure the win.

The Big Ten Tournament begins with the first round on Thursday, Oct. 31 in Minneapolis. The tournament semifinals and championship are scheduled for Nov. 7 and Nov. 10, respectively, at CITYPARK in St. Louis.

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics

Michigan State moves up one spot after the weekend sweep over Canisius.

Boston University, which was at No. 3, lost on Friday to North Dakota, 7-2, and the Terriers moved down a few spots as a result.

MSU is off this weekend. It will play Ohio State on Nov. 8-9 at Munn.

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