Morning State Sports Briefs: Wagner's status still in question for Saturday's UW Homecoming game

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MADISON - University of Wisconsin offensive line coach Bart Miller says he’s weighing his options, in case left tackle Ricky Wagner does not return for Saturday’s home contest against Michigan State.

The coaches had been optimistic that Wagner would be ready for this weekend, as he recovers from a sprained MCL ligament in his right knee suffered 10 days ago. Miller says the Badger line will have one game-plan to follow if Wagner returns – and one if he doesn’t. It Wagner doesn’t play, it’s possible that Ryan Groy will make another start at left tackle – and senior Robert Burge will fill Groy’s normal spot at left guard. That was the arrangement last Saturday, when the Badger line helped create five rushing touchdowns in a win over Minnesota. But this week’s challenge appears to be tougher. That’s because Michigan State leads the Big Ten in rushing defense. And the Spartans are 12th nationally in giving up just over 102 rushing yards per game.

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The World Series will begin tomorrow night in San Francisco, as the Giants face the Detroit Tigers. The Giants will host the first two games, after they won the National League pennant last night by crushing Saint Louis 9-0 in the seventh-and-deciding game of the NL title series. Matt Cain gave up a walk and five hits in five-and-two-thirds’ scoreless innings. Giants’ second baseman Marco Scutaro was the series’ MVP, batting .500 despite straining his left hip in Game-Two. Tigers’ first baseman Prince Fielder has a chance for a ring in his first season after leaving the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent.

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Krissy Dorre of UW-Milwaukee has been named the Horizon League women’s soccer player-of-the-week on offense. Dorre, a junior, scored both goals in Milwaukee’s 2-1 victory over UW-Green Bay on Friday night.

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For the first time in recent memory, the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team has dropped out of the national Top-10. U.S. College Hockey Online has the Badgers within two spots of a ranking, after they lost and tied Bemidji State this past weekend in Madison. Wisconsin did win a shootout yesterday after playing to a draw through overtime. But it still goes in the overall books as a tie, and the Badgers are now 3-3-2. Top-ranked Minnesota received all 15 first-place votes in the women’s poll. The Gophers are 8-0. In the College Online men’s poll, Wisconsin is six spots away from a Top-20 ranking. Boston College is the new No. 1 at 2-1. Minnesota dropped to second.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team is now 1-3 in the Big Ten Conference, after getting shut out at Michigan State 2-0 Sunday. Domenic Barone and Nick Wilson scored for the Spartans, who improved to 2-and-2 in league play. Freshman Chase Rau tied a season-high with six saves, but the Badgers still dropped to 5-7-3 overall.

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The University of Wisconsin women’s soccer team went above .500 in Big Ten play, after a 2-1 victory at Indiana. The Badgers scored both their goals in the final six minutes on shots by McKenna Meuer and Jo Bielefeld. Wisconsin is now 5-4-1 in the conference, and 12-5-1 overall.

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The UW-Milwaukee women ended a three-game winning streak, after getting shut out at home by Oklahoma State, 3-1 in their non-conference regular season finale. Sammy Vovos scored the only goal for UWM, which fell to 5-8-1 overall.

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The Marquette University volleyball team lost its first Big East Conference match of the season, three-sets-to-one at home against 15th-ranked Louisville. Lindsey Gosh had 17 kills and a .326 hitting percentage for the Golden Eagles, who snapped an 11-match winning streak. Marquette is now 8-1 in the Big East, and 18-4 overall.

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Apparently, the PGA Fall Series does not mean much in the World Golf Rankings. Pewaukee native Mark Wilson tied for 10th over the weekend in the McGladrey Classic in Georgia. But Wilson still dropped five places to 74th today in the new World Rankings. Jerry Kelly of Madison missed the cut at Sea Island, and he dropped eight spots to Number-219. Steve Stricker of Madison was off during the weekend, and he remains 11th in the World. The Top-Eight spots in the rankings are unchanged from a week ago. Rory McIlroy is the World Number-One, followed by Tiger Woods, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, and Wade Simpson. Jason Dufner and Brandt Snedeker round out the Top-10.

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