Spartans Tangle With Michigan in B1G Tourney Semifinals - Michigan State University Athletics

No. 5/13 Michigan State (14-3-2, No. 4 seed) vs. [RV} Michigan (8-5-5, No. 8 seed)
Dates/Location	Thursday, Nov. 5 \| 2 pm ET/41 pm CT Energizer Park \| St. Louis, Mo. \| Gameday Information
B1G Tournament Info	Championship Central \| Printable Bracket
Television	Big Ten Network
Live Stats	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Michigan
Social Media	Facebook X Instagram

What you need to know about Michigan State women's soccer

• Michigan State has advanced into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the second straight season and will take on eighth-seeded Michigan on Sunday. The all-time series between the two archrivals is even at 17-17-7. Michigan owns a 2-0 record in Big Ten Tournament matchups - the Wolverines earned a 2-1 win in 1999 and 2-0 in 2001.   This will be the first time that MSU is the favorite when meeting the Wolverines in the postseason affair - Michigan was the No. 2 and MSU the No. 7 in each of the last two meetings.

• The Spartans, the tournament's fourth seed, will get a rematch with the Wolverines after UM earned a 3-1 win at DeMartin Stadium on Sept. 20. The Wolverines not only snapped a four-game skid in the series but also scored their first goals against MSU since a 3-2 win in the 2023 season.
     The Wolverines got a brace and an assist from Ella Jablinskey, and freshman keeper Malia Zillman made eight saves to keep Michigan in the game as MSU's offense swarmed early. Michigan scored all three of its goals in a seven-minute span, (61:47, 64:47, and 67:24), with the first two coming from Jablinskey and the third by Maya Raghunandanan. Emerson Sargeant scored the MSU goal and Bella Schopp made two saves.

• The Big Ten Tournament has a new format in 2026 - the overall field has been reduced to eight teams, with the quarterfinals (Nov. 4-5) and semifinals (Nov. 8) slated for Energizer Park in St. Louis, Mo. (the home of MLS's St. Louis City SC). The Big Ten Championship game will be played on Friday Nov. 13 at the home site of the highest remaining seed.
     The top two seeds fell on day one: regular-season champ Ohio State fell to Michigan and No. 7 Wisconsin downed No. 2 UCLA in OT.      The Spartans downed No. 5 Washington 3-2 in extra time, while No. 3 Purdue took a 2-1 OT victory over No. 6 Penn State.

• Bella Najera's second goal of the game in the 96th minute sent MSU past No. 5 seed Washington in Thursday's quarterfinals. Faith George had a goal and an assist, both Kennedy Bell and Emerson Sargeant had a pair of helpers, while sophomore fullback Addison Baldus had her first point of the season - the primary assist on Najera's golden goal. The Spartans got a measure of revenge over Washington after falling to Huskies in the 2025 championship game on penalty kicks.

• MSU sits at No. 6 in the RPI rankings and has played eight teams that are in the RPI top 25 (North Carolina, Notre Dame, Colorado, and Xavier, along with B1G foes UCLA, Michigan,Purdue, and Penn State. Michigan State Is fifth in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches national poll and has been among the top six in that poll in every playing week this season.

• MSU's 38 goals rank fourth in the Big Ten (35th, NCAA), as does its scoring offense of 2.00 goals per game. The Spartans rank second in the Big Ten in both assists (51, eighth nationally) and total points (127, 19th).

• MSU's team GAA is 0.892, good for seventh in the Big Ten. Its shutout percentage (0.579, 11 in 19 games) is tops in the league and 20th nationally. MSU had 10 shutouts in 25 games a year ago, and the school record is 13, set in 1987.

• Michigan State is fourth in the country with 156 corners (8.21 per game). The Spartans more than double up opponents in this category (58, 3.05/game). Despite being one of the top teams in the nation in corners, MSU is one of two schools in the Big Ten (Illinois is the other) without a penalty kick opportunity this season.

• Jeff Hosler has coached his teams to a 43-10-10 record in Big Ten games since coming to MSU. In his first season (2021), the Spartans went 5-4-1 in conference play and are 38-6-9 in the four-plus years since. He is 83-23-22 at MSU overall, and 317-90-40 in his head coaching career (21st season).

• Bella Najera posted her first brace of the season on Thursday, which included the golden goal in the 96th minute to down No. 5 seed Washington.   She played all 96 minutes against the Huskies, and now has 13 points this season (4g, 5a). Three of her four goals have served as game-winners: at No. 7 North Carolina (8/24), at Illinois (10/4), and vs. No. 20 Washington (11/5).

• Najera is the most prolific scorer in the Jeff Hosler era and will eventually leave MSU as one of its top offensive performers in program history. She has 29 career goals, (sixth all time) and her 11 career game-winners are tied for fourth place. The senior ranks seventh in career points (77) and is 12th in career assists (19).

• Najera made Spartan history this week as just the second player in program history to earn All-Big Ten honors in four times. Najera was a Third Team pick in 2023 and 2024 and has earned Second Team kudos in 2025 and 2026. The most decorated Spartan is MSU Hall of Famer Laura Heyboer, who earned First Team honors in each year of her playing career (2008-11).

• Emerson Sargeant missed the final two regular-season games, the first she has missed since the start of the 2025 season. In her return on Thursday, she went 80 minutes and had assists on each of MSU's regulation goals. She owns a 6-6-18 scoring line, good for third on the team. She is third on the team in goals (6) and is tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (4), which ranks 12th in a single season at MSU.

• Kennedy Bell had two assists in Thursday's win over Washington, with the primary on both of MSU's goals in regulation. Through 19 games, Bell ranks third in the Big Ten in points (27), ranks seventh in goals (8) and leads the league with a career-best 11 assists, which us also the third highest single-season total in program history.   A year ago, she led the Big Ten during the regular season in both points (25) and goals (10) in 25 games.

• Bell now has 56 points (19g, 16a) in her 44 career games as a Spartan. She is the 24th player in program history to achieve 50 points, ranking 18th in career points and 19th in career goals. Combined with two seasons at Maryland, (80 games), she owns a 22-21-63 career scoring line.

• Kayla Briggs posted 23 points on seven goals and nine assists (19 games), which matches her point total in 25 games in 2025. Briggs' career-best nine assists ties for eighth in a single season at MSU. Her 16th career assist as a Spartan, recorded against Indiana (10/12), is 17th in the MSU annals in that category.   She has a 15-16-46 line at MSU, and 20-23-63 in her four-year collegiate career.

• Noelle Henning has surrendered just eight goals in her 12 games this season (two on penalty kicks.)   She has produced eight shutouts in 11 games. She boasts a 0.663 GAA (second, B1G/ 18th NCAA) and .784 save percentage. Her eight shutouts is fourth among B1G keepers (23rd NCAA) and is also ninth in MSU's single-season annals. Henning owns 16 career shutouts, which is tied for fifth in MSU's career record book. She now has 22 career victories for the Spartans in 32 career games, which ranks 10th all-time.

• Junior Faith George has started each of MSU's 19 games this season on the Spartan back line, totaling 1344 minutes (71 per). George had a three-point effort in the game vs. Washington, scoring MSU's first goal of the game and assisting on Najera's game-winner. She now has a 1-4-6 scoring line and her four assists is a single season career-best.

• Ava Lutke has played all 19 games, starting each of the last seven and eight total. She went 89 minutes vs. Washington in the B1G quarterfinals and 80+ against both Minnesota and Indiana; she averages 48 minutes per game this season.

• St. Louis-area product Addison Baldus played a career-best 51 minutes in the B1G quarterfinal vs. Washington. In that game, she recorded her first career point - the primary assist on Bella Najera's OT game-winner. She has played in seven games this season, and over the last three games has averaged 42 minutes per contest.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Addison Baldus

Kennedy Bell

Faith George

Noelle Henning

Ava Lutke

Bella Najera

Emerson Sargeant

Bella Schopp

Michigan State University Athletics