Seniors To Be Honored Sunday vs. Milwaukee

No. 20 Michigan State (1-0-2) vs Milwaukee (1-2-0 )
Dates/Location	Sunday, August 24 \| 1 pm DeMartin Stadium , East Lansing \| Gameday Information
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office
Promotions	Senior Day \| Four Seats, Four Treats
Television	none
Webstream	Watch on B1G+
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Milwaukee
Social Media	Facebook X Instagram

The Particulars
• Michigan State continues a four-match homestand with a Sunday matinee against Milwaukee. It is Senior Day, with the program honoring six seniors: Sofia Beerworth, Taya Hjorth, Maggie Illig, Allie Mairn, Emerson Sargeant, and Remini Tillotson in a pre-game ceremony. WSOC Senior Day 2025

• The game will air live on B1G+. Links for live statistics and the webstream can be found on the women's soccer schedule page of MSUSpartans.com.

• Michigan State and Milwaukee will meet for the 13th time in program history, and the first time since the 2022 NCAA Tournament, a 3-2 OT MSU win. The Spartans have three straight victories in the series (all at DeMartin), which they lead 9-3-0.

Team Notes
• Michigan State earned a 3-0 victory over NC State at home on Thursday, which was the 399th victory in program history. MSU is now in its 40th season of varsity soccer.

• MSU's three goals came from three different players in the NC State victory. The Spartans have now scored four goals in three games, (1.33 per game, 13th B1G)

• The Spartans opened the 2025 season with back-to-back ties - a 1-1 decision at Colorado and 0-0 against Dayton at home in their most recent game. This was the first time in program history that MSU has started the season with ties in its first two games.

• MSU has posted back -to-back shutouts, (vs. Dayton and NC State), and allowed its only goal of the season in the third minute in the opener at Colorado. The Spartan shutout streak is currently at 266:30.

• MSU once again went deep into its bench, with 25 players seeing action against the Wolfpack. Twenty-six of MSU's 29 players have seen action this season.

• MSU has allowed 28 shot attempts this season, and 12 of those were on net. MSU has a total of 42 shot attempts, with 11 being on target. MSU is averaging 14 attempts per game, and limiting opponents to 9.3.

• NC State compiled five yellow cards and 23 fouls in Thursday's game. Spartan opponents have been whistled for nine yellow cards in three games, while MSU has two in the three.

• The Spartans have out-cornered their opponents by a 21-10 margin, with 13 coming in the second half. MSU also is outshooting opponents 42-28, with 26 shots coming in the second half.

• Michigan State sits at No. 20 in this week's United Soccer Coaches national poll. In the preseason survey, MSU came in at No. 12 - its highest preseason ranking in program history. The Spartans completed the 2024 season at No. 14 after advancing to the NCAA Round of 16.
• The Big Ten owns a 22-2-6 record (.833) over the first week of play in 2025. The ACC also has 22 wins, with a .750 winning percentage (22-6-4).

• Michigan State is coming off a 2024 season in which it compiled a 14-3-5 overall record, and went 7-1-3 in Big Ten games. MSU finished fourth (25 points), one point out of third place and two out of second. The Spartans claimed Big Ten regular-season titles in 2022 and 2023, and advanced to the Sweet 16 in both 2023 and 2024.

• The Spartans lost 28 of 45 total goals and 80 of 134 points from the 2024 team, as well as both keepers who played last season. Michigan State returns 19 players from the 2024 roster, however - and welcome nine freshmen and two junior transfers.

• In the four-year tenure of MSU head coach Jeff Hosler, MSU owns an overall record of 55-16-16, and is 28-6-6 in Big Ten play. In that stretch, the Spartans own the most B1G victories of the 14 teams who played all four years in the league (two ahead of Rutgers' 26) and the second-most overall wins, behind Penn State's 58. The Green & White is also the only team to finish in the top four of the Big Ten in each of those four seasons.
   Two of the newest members of the Big Ten own 71 (UCLA) and 55 (USC) victories over the last four seasons overall.

• The Spartan schedule features 11 home dates and 18 total games, and nine contests against opponents who appeared in the final United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll last December. MSU takes the field against nine teams which qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago, including Notre Dame (No. 2 in the preseason poll); season opening opponent Colorado not only qualified for the tournament, but the unseeded Buffs reached the second round and the Irish advanced to the final eight. Of the nine B1G squads that made the NCAA Tournament field a year ago (including MSU), eight won at least one game, six advanced into the round of 16 and two into the quarterfinals. MSU's strength of schedule for 2025 is 13th nationally, with eight of the top 15 in that ranking hailing from the Big Ten.

• MSU's 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 12 nationally by Top Drawer Soccer, with all nine first-year players earning three-star rankings or higher and five players among the top 200 incoming freshmen per the outlet's individual rankings.

• The Spartans welcomed more than 1,200 fans to the game vs. Dayton last Sunday night, a total which ranked 22nd attendance-wise among opening weekend games. The men's-women's doubleheader drew more than 4,000 to DeMartin Stadium on Thursday.

• MSU ranked fifth nationally in overall (28,397) and sixth in average (2,184) attendance last season. MSU's single-game attendance mark was shattered with 5,145 fans on Oct. 5 against Michigan, making it the sixth-most attended regular-season NCAA women's soccer game in 2024.

Player Notes

• The three goals vs. NC State came from Kennedy Bell, Kayla Briggs, and Ava Lutke. For both Briggs and Lutke, it was their first goal in a Green & White uniform.

• Bell has scored two of MSU's four goals this season, and Bella Najera has assisted on two of the four.

• Bell came to MSU with three career scores in her two seasons at Maryland. She already has two this year.

• Redshirt sophomore Adelle Francis picked up her first assist of the season on the Briggs score

• Freshman Ava Lutke's header in the second half on a corner play was her first goal in Green & White. Renee Watson put the ball in play, and found a perfectly-positioned Lutke to earn her first assist of the season.

• Watson missed a month of the Spartan season in 2024 with the Canadian Women's National Team at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. She returned in mid-September and started 13 of her 15 games on the year. She has started all three MSU games in her junior season.

• Noelle Henning earned her first career victory and shutout against the Wolfpack, making five saves. She made her collegiate debut as the Spartan keeper vs. Colorado, and made two saves - one in each half. She has a personal shutout streak of 176:30, dating back to her debut in Boulder.

• Kennedy Zorn manned the MSU net against Dayton and made two saves in the final two minutes, one particularly dangerous that she was able to punch up over the crossbar to preserve the shutout. It was her first career start, game, and shutout.

•   Najera and Watson lead the Spartan offense with eight shots each, and Briggs is right behind with seven attempts. Bell's two goals have come on five shots.

• In addition to Henning, three other MSU freshmen made their Green & White debut against at Colorado: Abbey Dalton, Addison Baldus, and Ava Lutke. Zorn, Maleeya Martin and Emily Graham saw their first collegiate action vs. Dayton, and Mackenzie Kruer did so against NC State.

• Senior Allie Mairn has earned starts in each of the last two games, the first starts of her career. Eight MSU players have started all three contests.

• Defensive anchor Maggie Illig played all 90 minutes in each of MSU's first two games, and she and Bella Najera lead the Spartans in minutes played (223 and 224). With MSU going deep into its bench through three games, the Spartans have 15 players with 100 minutes played or more.

•   Najera and senior Maggie Illig appear on the United Soccer Coaches Hermann Trophy Watch List, which was released on Thursday (Aug. 14). The Hermann Trophy is presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club and is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the National Player of the Year.

• Illig (Second Team) earned a spot on the United Soccer Coaches 2025 Preseason Defenders to Watch list and is a returning USC All-North Region Pick, earning a spot on the second team a year ago. She was one of four All-Region picks for MSU at the conclusion of last season.

• Illig and Najera (Third Team) are MSU's returning All-Big Ten players from a year ago. Najera led the 2024 squad in goals (8) and her 19 points ranked second on the team a year ago and leads all returnees. She was also identified as one of the United Soccer Coaches Midfielders to Watch.

• The Spartans returned six players with 16 or more starts last year: Seniors Sofia Beerworth and Maggie Illig, juniors Bella Najera and Renee Watson, and sophomores Julia Belli and Kaleigh McPherson. A pair of Spartan starters from 2023 lost their 2024 seasons to injury (Regan Dalton and Emerson Sargeant), and returned healthy for the 2025 campaign to provide MSU a solid corps of seasoned veterans with an eye on making a run at their third Big Ten title in three seasons.

• The early-season losses of Regan Dalton and Sargeant a year ago left a hole in the Spartan midfield - Dalton was injured in the first game of the year, and Sargeant in the fifth. Sargeant had a 4-6-14 scoring line as a sophomore and already had four assists to her credit in the first four games of 2024 before suffering the injury.
   Regan Dalton played 70 minutes against Colorado, more than double the minutes she logged before suffering her season-ending injury in the 2024 opener.

• Sophomores Julia Belli and Kaleigh McPherson both garnered spots on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team a year ago. Belli started every game as a freshman and McPherson started 16 of the team's final 17 contests. Each had a goal in 22 games.

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Players Mentioned

Addison Baldus

Sofia Beerworth

Kennedy Bell

Julia Belli

Kayla Briggs

Abbey Dalton

Regan Dalton

Adelle Francis

Emily Graham

Noelle Henning

Taya Hjorth

Maggie Illig

Mackenzie Kruer

Ava Lutke

Allie Mairn

Maleeya Martin

Kaleigh McPherson

Bella Najera

Emerson Sargeant

Remini Tillotson

Renee Watson

Kennedy Zorn