Six Spartans Earn All-Big Ten Honors

East Lansing, Mich. -- The Big Ten has announced its annual postseason awards, and MSU had six players honored:   Junior Kennedy Bell earned Forward of the Year honors in addition to being a unanimous First Team All Big Ten selection. Joining Bell on the first team were Emerson Sargeant, Kayla Briggs, and Maggie Illig; Bella Najera was a Second Team honoree and Remini Tillotson was MSU's selection for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Sargeant, Illig, and Najera are all repeat All-B1G honorees. Sargeant (2023) and Illig (2024) were previously second team selections, while Najera was named the 2023 league Freshman of the Year in addition to being a third team pick in both 2023 and 2024. Transfers Bell and Briggs earned their first postseason B1G honors in 2025.   MSU's five All-Big Ten honorees matches the program's all-time best for number of overall All-Big Ten selections in a season, set in 2022. A total of 18 players have earned All-Big Ten postseason selections in the last five years under Hosler.

Bell is MSU's second-ever Big Ten Forward of the Year, along with 2022 selection Lauren DeBeau. In 2008, Laura Heyboer was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, (which was not limited to a specific position).

Bell, who came to the Spartans after two seasons at Maryland, was also on the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List. She is the Big Ten leader in goals (10, 43rd NCAA), and her 25 points leads the B1G and is 44th nationally.    In Conference games only, Bell led the Spartans and the B1G with 16 points, and was second in goals (6) and assists (4). Her 10 goals ranks in a tie for 17th in MSU's all-time single season records - the most goals for a Spartan since DeBeau had 11 in 2022. Her 25 points is 21st all-time in a single season.

Bell played primarily on the back line for the Terrapins to begin her collegiate career. Through 19 games, Bell has more than tripled her three career goals that she scored in two seasons at Maryland. With 25 points, she is also approaching tripling her career total entering 2025 (9).

Briggs had the lone goal in MSU's quarterfinal win over Northwestern last Sunday. She owns the team lead in assists (7, second B1G),which is also 18^th all-time in a single season in the Spartan record book. Her 5-7-17 scoring line in 2025 ranks in a tie for ninth in the league in points - it also matches her two-year career total from Providence. She also shares the team lead (with Sargeant) for game-winning goals (3), which ranks fifth in the Big Ten.

Najera is tied for second on the team in goals (5) with Briggs and Sargeant, and is third on the team with 15 points. Of her five goals on the year, two have stood as game-tying tallies and one as a game-winner. She is steadily climbing among the all-time scoring leaders in program history. She has 58 career points, tied with Leasa Klix (1986-88) and Jamie Cheslik (2014-17) for 13th in the Spartan annals. Her 22 career goals finds her alone in 14th place among the Spartan goal scorers, and she is tied for 20th in career assists (14).   Her 58 career points ranks seventh among active Big Ten players.

Sargeant is a great comeback story, returning to the field to earn Second Team All-Big Ten kudos for the second time – she earned the honor in 2023 but suffered a season-ending injury in early 2024. She has surpassed her career best with five goals this season, the most recent the lone score in a 1-0 win on the road at Nebraska (10/26), her team-best third game-winning goal of the season. With three assists to go with her five points, she has posted 13 points this year - one point shy of her career best set in 2023.     She has 16 career assists, which ties her for 15th all-time in the MSU record book, along with Jamie Cheslik (2014-17), Lauren Hill (2006-09), and Leah Hutko (1993-96).

Illig had one goal in each of her first three collegiate seasons but has matched that career goal total with her three scores (and added an assist) this season, and with seven points is close to matching her career scoring line through her first three college seasons combined (3-4-10).   She was the most decorated Spartan in the pre-season, earning a spot on the Hermann Trophy Watch List, the United Soccer Coaches Defenders to Watch, and was among the Big Ten Players to Watch. In addition to her Second Team All-Big Ten honors a year ago, she was also a United Soccer Coaches All-Region pick.

Tillotson, MSU's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner, scored her first goal as a Spartan when she converted a penalty kick against USC (9/21). It was also the first PK for her in her collegiate career. She has appeared in all 19 games, logging valuable, increasing minutes over the recent stretch for the Spartans. She has started MSU's last two games vs. Northwestern and Nebraska.   Over the last seven games, she has averaged 50 minutes of playing time, including a season-high of 74 vs. Northwestern in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

Players Mentioned

Kennedy Bell

Kayla Briggs

Maggie Illig

Bella Najera

Emerson Sargeant

Remini Tillotson

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