Four-Game Homestand Wraps With Game vs. Buffalo

No. 20 Michigan State (2-0-2) vs Buffalo (2-0-1 )
Dates/Location	Thursday, August 28 \| 7 pm DeMartin Stadium , East Lansing \| Gameday Information
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office
Promotions	Youth Soccer Day \| Four Seats, Four Treats
Television	none
Webstream	Watch on B1G+
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Buffalo
Social Media	Facebook X Instagram

The Particulars
• Michigan State concludes a four-match homestand with a Thursday night matchup against Buffalo. Links for live statistics and the webstream can be found on the women's soccer schedule page of MSUSpartans.com.

• The game will air live on B1G+. Kyle Keegan and Joe DesVergnes call the action, with Dominic Carroll on the sideline.

• Michigan State and Buffalo meet on Thursday for the first time since the 2013 season. The Spartans are 4-0 all-time against the Bulls, with the first three wins coming in the early 1990's. This is the fourth meeting that will take place in East Lansing, and first since a 2-0 win in August 2013.

Team Notes
• Michigan State earned a 9-0 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday (8/24). The win was the 400th victory for the women's program, which began in the fall of 1986 under the tutelage of Joe Baum. Baum, MSU's legendary men's head coach, guided both teams from 1986-90 before Tom Saxton took the reins and held the position for the next 30 years, retiring after the 2020 season. The program boasts more than 300 alumni and is now in its 40th season of women's soccer.

• The Spartans set a DeMartin Stadium record for goals in a game (9), bettering the previous record of seven scored against Central Michigan on Aug. 25, 2022. MSU's seven second-half goals was also a facility record.

• In all Division I games this season, only three teams have scored more than MSU's nine goals in a game - Indiana State (13, 8/17), Bellarmine (11, 8/23) and Western Kentucky (10, 8/16).

• Sunday's output was the most goals in a game for the Green & White since a 9-0 victory over Valpariso on Sept. 29, 1995; MSU's school record for goals in a game is 10, established five times, most recently Sept. 22, 1993 at Loyola (Chicago). Sunday's outcome was the fifth time in 40 years of soccer that MSU had scored nine.

• MSU's nine goals vs. Milwaukee came from eight different players, with junior Renee Watson recording her first career brace.

• With 13 goals through four games, MSU ranks tied for 11th nationally in total goals (first in the Big Ten). On the other side of the ball, MSU's team defense (0.25 goals per game) is second in the Conference and also 11th nationally.

• The Spartans scored 12 goals in two games last week after scoring just once in the first two contests of the season. MSU started the campaign with back-to-back ties: a 1-1 decision at Colorado and 0-0 against Dayton at home. This was the first time in program history that MSU started the season with ties in its first two games.

• The defense has recorded its third consecutive clean sheet – matching last year's most recent three consecutive (vs. Queens (6-0), vs. Loyola Chicago (1-0) and at Maryland (5-0) from Sept. 5-12, 2024). The Spartans have allowed just one goal in their four games, which was scored 3:30 into the opener at Colorado. The active shutout streak has reached 356:30.

• MSU went deep into its bench the last two games, with all 25 active field players seeing action.

• MSU's seven second-half tallies were a DeMartin Stadium record. The Spartans have scored two goals in each of the first halves over the last two games, and nine total goals in the second half.

• MSU had 24 shot attempts in Sunday's win, of which 14 were on goal. The squad had a total of 42 shot attempts in its first three games, with 11 being on target.

• The Spartans have outshot teams 24-17 in the first half and 42-15 in the second. MSU has allowed a total of 12 corner kicks to its opponents, six in each half (and had 29 corner attempts of its own)

• MSU's staunch back line has allowed just 32 shot attempts this season, and 12 of those were on net. The Spartans have limited opponents to eight shot attempts per contest, and just one goal.

• Michigan State moved up to No. 17 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 38-12-12 record (.710) through the first two weeks of non-conference play. The SEC leads the way with 41-11-6 (.758), followed by the ACC at 42-14-5 (.729).

• 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 first four years of MSU being coached by 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 initial strength of schedule for 2025 was 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 have enjoyed three straight games with attendance of 1,200+ fans - all before classes have started. The Spartans rank third nationally in overall attendance (6,419) and 10th in average attendance (2,140).
   MSU ranked fifth nationally in overall (28,397) and sixth in average (2,184) attendance last season.

Player Notes - Field Players
• Michigan State has seven players who have started all four games this season. In Sunday's game, no player was on the field for more than 68 minutes.

• Against Milwaukee, five Spartans had their first career goals: junior Renee Watson, redshirt sophomore Adelle Francis, sophomore Grace Jackson, redshirt freshman Shelby Vaughn and freshman Emily Graham. Vaughn was appearing in her first career game.

• Kennedy Bell netted her third goal of the season against Milwaukee. She is tied with Renee Watson in points (7), which is tied for third in the Big Ten. Her three goals shares the Big Ten lead, and 0.75 goals per game is seventh.
   Bell came to MSU with three career scores in her two seasons at Maryland, where she was a defensive player.

• Watson had a career day against the Panthers with two goals and two assists - it was her first collegiate goal, brace, and multi-point game. She is now tied with Bell atop MSU's stat sheet with seven points (2-3-7)

• Watson is tied for second in the Big Ten in assists (3) and fifth in assists per game (0.75).

• 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 four games this season and leads the team in shots (10).

•   Maggie Illig scored her first goal of the season just minutes into the Milwaukee game. It was the fourth of her career - she had one goal in each of her first three collegiate seasons. She appeared to have her first career brace in the 57th minute, but the goal was reviewed on the field and called back for offsides.

• Illig 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 also is among the Big Ten Players to Watch. She was a Second Team All-Big Ten pick a year ago and was also a United Soccer Coaches All-Region pick.

•  Bella Najera notched her first goal of the season against the Panthers after assists in two of the first three MSU games. She is third on the team in points (4) and tied with Renee Watson for the lead in shots (10).

• Najera's 0.50 assists per game is 12th in the Big Ten, and she is sixth in the B1G in total assists (2).

• Najera's Sunday score was the 18th goal of her career, moving her into 19th place on MSU's list of all-time goal scorers (tied with Becky Ketola, 1993-96).

• Najera has started 43 of her 48 career games, and leads all active players in all offensive categories (18-11-47). She sits in a tie for 24th all-time at MSU in single-season goals and a tie for 21st in points (9-6-23, set in 2023 as a freshman).

• Najera was a Big Ten Player to Watch and a United Soccer Coaches Midfielder to Watch in the pre-season. The 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year has earned Third Team All-Big Ten honors in each of the last two seasons.

• Kayla Briggs had a goal against NC State and an assist against Milwaukee to get into the Spartan scoring column. She joined the Spartans after two seasons at Providence, where she combined for five goals, three game-winners, and seven assists over those two years.

• Adelle Francis also had a goal and an assist in last week's two games. She contributed a pair of assists in 19 games last year as a redshirt freshman.

• 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.

• Sargeant was injured five games into last season, and has played 240 minutes this year - she played in 384 a year ago.

• 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.

Player Notes - Keepers
• Each of the two freshman keepers have gotten two games - Noelle Henning started both Thursday games, with Kennedy Zorn drawing the Sunday starts.

• Noelle Henning earned her first career victory and shutout against the NC State, 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 posted a second consecutive shutout last Sunday against Milwaukee. She also manned the MSU net against Dayton (four saves) 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.

• Zorn ranks in a tie for third in the Big Ten in shutouts (2) behind Izzy Lee of Illinois and Faith Luickey of Maryland, who each have three. She is also one of 23 players nationally with a perfect 1.000 save percentage and .000 GAA, with Henning ranking fifth in the Big Ten with an .875 save percentage and .500 GAA.

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Players Mentioned

Sofia Beerworth

Kennedy Bell

Julia Belli

Kayla Briggs

Regan Dalton

Adelle Francis

Emily Graham

Noelle Henning

Maggie Illig

Grace Jackson

Kaleigh McPherson

Bella Najera

Emerson Sargeant

Shelby Vaughn

Renee Watson

Kennedy Zorn