article giving credit to the complexity of water polo

TRAINING CAMPS

11/16/2008
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/news/2008-09/2008NCCCCalPolyMSU1stPlace

11/6/2008
Big Ten Conference Win
The Michigan State Spartans are coming into the 2008 Men's Collegiate Club Championship for the fourth consecutive year by winning the Big Ten Conference tournament.  During the regular season, the Spartans lost only two games and had an undefeated record in Big Ten play for the fourth consecutive year.
With the hiring of a new coach during the summer, the Spartans entered the first week of practice with great excitement and determination to go back to Nationals and win another title.  MSU opened up their season in late August with the Hillbilly Invite at the University of Tennessee.  This tournament proved to be a great warm-up for the Spartans as they handily took the title in grand fashion.  A couple of weeks later, the Spartans traveled to Davis, California where they competed in a highly competitive tournament with many of the top collegiate club teams in the nation in attendance.  MSU was able to win throughout the opening rounds and advance to the championship game where they took on UCLA.  Michigan State was able to come out with a hard fought victory, winning 11 to 10.  The Spartans came back to the Midwest with renewed confidence after this huge tournament win and were able to string together a couple tournament wins at Miami (OH) and Purdue.  Two weeks later, Michigan State came into the Big Ten tournament as the number one seed and was able to knock off Iowa, Illinois, and Purdue in the opening rounds to advance to the finals.  The championship game featured the Spartans against their rivals from the University of Michigan.  MSU was able to take an early lead and never looked back, leading the Spartans to their fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship.
The Spartans from Michigan State are led by senior captain and Big Ten MVP Jon Haga, along with senior captain Evan Perry and sophomore goalie Ben Shantz.  Michigan State still knows the feeling of defeat from their loss in overtime in the National championship game last year to Cal Poly and the Spartans are ready to take the title back.

2007
MICHIGAN STATE ENDS REGULAR SEASON ON HIGH NOTE
As 7pm rolled around in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Canham Natatorium the endless rivalry in Michigan and Michigan State sports was about to see what hoped to be another great battle. The sounds of heckles and profanities were soon silenced from the Michigan crowd as the Spartans scorched the back of the net and the defense locked down. Michigan proved to be no match for the Spartans as they rolled over wolverines 16-4. Again Michigan State had to play Illinois as they showed up in their bracket ready for revenge. The Spartans were put on their heels early as they were put in a 0-3 hole in the first 3 minutes of the game. Coach George Shereda took a key timeout to settle the flustered Spartans and get them back to their style of play. MSU did not look back from that point as they put up 4 goals to take the lead and continued to scorch the back of the net the rest of the game. In Michigan State's third and last big ten game of the regular season they took on a much improved Wisconsin team. Jon Haga opened up the scoring as the fans saw much of the same domination the Spartans had all season. Michigan State went on to win the game and close out the Big Ten play undefeated. In the final game the Spartans played Grand Valley State for the third time. Both teams traded goals for a quarter until Michigan State's defense showed up and the offense went on scoring. In a game that featured double digit kickouts for the Spartans and one Michigan State ejection from the game, they managed to go on to win 8-5. The Michigan State Spartans ended the regular season with a record of 25-1 and went undefeated in the Big Ten for the third straight year. Coach Shereda had this to say on the upcoming weekend, "The season is just a stepping stone to see where everyone stands and as good as our team did it doesn't matter when it comes time for Big Tens. The real season starts now and we have to prove ourselves like we did in the regular season. It's win or go home!"

2007
SPARTANS DODGE 2 BULLETS TO WIN THE HOOSIER CLASSIC!
As the season winds down the Spartans saw good competition at Indiana University where they improved their season record to 21-1. The first game of the tournament featured the Chicago Apostles, which is a team of alumni from many different varsity and club programs around the nation. Michigan State proved their strength and physicality as they used numerous counter attacks and drives to light up the back of the net for another win. The next bracket game featured Illinois, a very physical team that should not be underestimated. MSU started strong and proved too deep as many mismatches in hole set proved to be the key to the Spartans win. The most exciting game of the tournament which seemed like a championship game came on Saturday at 6pm. The Indiana fans filled the stands in hope for an epic upset, but the Spartans would have no part as they overcame the absence of Captain Evan Perry and Dan Lebling in the second period. In a game filled with kickouts, 5 meters, and numerous whistles, freshman Ben Shantz showed great poise as he buckled down in goal and secured the Spartans defense for the win. The final game of the tournament showcased a very depleted Grand Valley team plagued with absences from their bench and starting line. Michigan State knew not to play down to this team and be comfortable with the situation. Again the Spartans relied on their tough defensive play as the offense slowly came and the goals were put on the board. Solid play from sophomore Andrew Olesnavich, Senior Jon Haga and Junior Evan Perry paved the way to another tournament victory as the Spartans took their fourth tournament win.

2007
SPARTANS BRING HOME THEIR THIRD TOURNAMENT WIN!
The Spartans remained in dominate form this weekend despite being nowhere near full strength as they traveled down to Miami of Ohio. Adjusting back to Michigan officiating was not a problem as MSU rolled past Lindenwood and Illinois to win their bracket handily right off the bat. The well rested Spartans faced a determined Jadron, Ohio team who refused to give up and played right with MSU up until the final minutes when the defending national champions sent out the finishing blows to win by 2 and put the game away. A possible Big Ten championship match-up between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Michigan State Spartans took place in the championship game Sunday. The Spartans, determined to establish their dominance, jumped out to a four goal lead in the first four possessions to start out the game. From then on, the Hoosiers settled in and did not go away easily until the fourth quarter. The shorthanded Spartans came out on top with solid performances from the bench who stepped up huge with the absences of top scorer, Dan Lebling, and injured Eddie Rogers over the weekend.

The Spartans have a week off to nurse their wounds and regroup for the IU invite in two weeks. Your MSU Spartans are now 17-1, and 3 for 4 on tournament victories on the year.

2007
FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON TAKES PRESSURE OFF SPARTANS!
As the Spartans traveled across country this weekend to the UC Davis invite they over came injury, fatigue, and jet lag to pull off a 3rd place finish. Michigan State's first game came just hours after getting off a 7 hour travel as they went head to head against a very tough UCLA team. As MSU came in tired and late they showed why they are a force to be reckoned with as they buckled down on defense and only let in 2 goals all game. The Spartans got physical which would be come a trend with the Spartans as they edged out the Bruins 6-2. Michigan State fought there way through arguably the toughest road to the semifinals as they beat UCLA, Texas A&M, Cal Maritime, and Cal Poly. The semifinal match up would prove to be the best team in the tournament as MSU went up against a very tough UC Davis team out for revenge from 2006. The Spartans would put all injury and fatigue aside as they kept close with the home team. In the end, UC Davis squeaked out a close one, but MSU kept their heads high in a well fought game. Coach Shereda commented, "You never want your team to lose but we now have the pressure off of going undefeated and it set the team straight. Records and rankings are out the window, it is time to focus as we go into the second half of the season." Michigan State got right back to their winning ways as they came away with a very close win against the University of Arizona. Freshman Ben Shantz made a last second key save to close out the win and the 3rd place finish. Key defensive stands from Brent Augustine in hole defense and offensive threat Andrew Olesnavich were critical in the success of the Spartans this weekend.

2007
MSU PUTS ON A SHOW AND TAKES 1st PLACE AT THE SPARTANS HOME TOURNAMENT !!!
In the first tournament in front of the home crowd and a very interested tailgate group the Spartans showed much of the same determination from Tennessee. Michigan State cruised to victories over Illinois, Slippery Rock, and a very physical United Masters team on there way to the first place match, which was a rematch of last years National Championship game. In the first epic match of the season between the Spartans and the Lakers it was all MSU as they clicked offensively and defensively. The Michigan State offense proved to be too much for the Grand Valley defense as the Spartans versatility managed to put up 12 goals. Underclassman Eddie Rogers, Andrew Weichmann, Todd Kennedy and Alex Solac showed no intimidation as they played big minutes and showed the depth of the Michigan State bench. Coach Shereda had this to say after the game: "The tournament was an overall success and I think it was a great morale boost but we are ready to buckle down and get back to work. We are where we want to be right now but we still have a lot of work to get to our ultimate goal."

Spartans play on saturday at 11am, 5pm and 8pm. Sunday's time is determined by the results of saturday. Come Cheer on your Spartans at the IM West Outdoor pool.