9/06/2009
Spartan Invitational
The Spartans opened their season with their annual Spartan Invitational September 4–6.  The home tournament saw beautiful weather and excellent attendance.  The weekend began with an exhibition game Friday night against the U of M Wolverines at the IM west indoor pool.  The Wolverines fought hard and played well, but the Spartans held them off and won 15-14.  Excellent play by Captain Andrew Olesnavich lead the way, but the Spartans also saw key contributions from newcomer Chase Plank and sophomore Jake Marsh.
Saturday the Spartans advanced through pool play by beating UM B and a tough scrappy team from Illinois.  By winning their pool MSU then wound up playing two masters teams.  One, composed of alumni, included former All Americans Jon Haga and Evan Perry; the other was composed of masters from the 616 area.  MSU showed their speed and chemistry and earned their third win of the day by defeating Perry's team 11-8 in a game late Saturday afternoon.
Sunday morning they weren't quite as successful against the talented 616 masters.  MSU was missing a pair of key players to illness but they came out strong, determined not to let this stop them, and at half time they were in a two goal game.  But they were outlasted in the second half as the 616 masters pulled away and cruised to an 11-6 win.  MSU earned 2nd place in their first tournament of the year.  Replacing the graduating class from last year will be no small task, but the team made some important strides this weekend.  Coach Laszlo Hruza says "We're disapointed in the loss, but we're heading in the right direction."