Rivalry Renewed Sunday as No. 1 MSU Hosts Michigan

No. 1/7 Michigan State (6-0-2) vs. Michigan (3-1-3)
Dates/Location	Sunday, Sept. 20 \| 1 pm DeMartin Stadium, East Lansing, Mich. \| Gameday Information
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office
Promotions	Go Green! Wear White! \| See all Promotions
Webstream	B1G+
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Michigan
Social Media	Facebook X Instagram

With a large crowd expected, we encourage fans to purchase tickets in advance and add them to their digital wallet,
and also plan on arriving early to park and get into the stadium.

Parking will fill quickly at Jenison Field House, so please consider parking lots at Kellogg Center, Breslin Center, or IM West
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What you need to know about Spartan women's soccer

• Top-ranked Michigan State hosts rival Michigan on Sunday at 1 pm. The Spartans return to DeMartin Stadium for the first time since Aug. 30 and open a three-game homestand to close out the month of September.

• The game will be streamed on B1G+, With Jacob Maurer calling the action, Jack Vohwinkle providing analysis, and Lyric Sloan on sideline duties.

• The series between the two archrivals tips in favor of the Spartans (17-16-7), who have won each of the last four games between the teams. Last year was a 1-0 victory in Ann Arbor: Renee Watson scored less than two minutes into the game and Noelle Henning delivered a four-save performance. Michigan had 20 fouls to MSU's 10, and each team had three yellow cards.

• Dave DiIanni is in his first season in Ann Arbor after a successful 12-year run at Iowa, where he guided the Hawkeyes to a 125-82-30 record as the program's all-time winningest head coach. His Wolverines enter Sunday's game with a 3-1-3 record (1-1 in B1G play). The Wolverines opened conference action on the road last weekend with a 1-0 loss at Northwestern before rebounding with a 2-0 decision at Illinois.

• Michigan State has ascended to the No. 1 spot in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches national poll this week. MSU has been among the top five in that poll in every playing week this season, with a previous high of No. 3 on Aug. 25 after defeating No 12/7 Colorado. This is the second time in three years that MSU has held the No. 1 spot in the United Soccer Coaches national poll. The Spartans earned their first-ever No. 1 ranking on Sept. 24, 2024, after a pair of top 15 non-conference wins and a 1-0 road shutout at No. 9 Penn State.

• MSU has earned wins over three teams ranked in the top 16 of the IWSOC poll this season, as well as a win and a tie over teams receiving votes in the national poll. The Spartans have arguably the most difficult schedule in the nation to this point of the season and boast a 6-0-2 mark with road victories at No. 7 North Carolina and No. 16 UCLA, and tying at [RV] Notre Dame, 2-2. MSU also has home wins over No. 12 Colorado and [RV] Xavier.
                MSU's opponents thus far own a combined 30-9-13 record (.702). RPI projections have Michigan State sitting at No. 1, with the first official RPI release of the season coming on Sept. 21.

• MSU opened Big Ten play with a pair of road wins last week. MSU posted a commanding win on the road at USC on Thursday (5-0) and then earned a 1-0 victory at No. 16 UCLA. Since the west coast schools joined the Big Ten for the 2024 soccer season, MSU is the first team to post victories at both USC and UCLA in the same weekend.

• MSU was selected as the preseason favorite in the Big Ten, earning its first-ever No. 1 in the Conference preseason poll of the league coaches. MSU is one of three B1G schools without a loss on its ledger in 2026, and it owns the second-most victories behind Washington's seven. MSU's conference slate features six of the other eight teams which appeared in the top half of the preseason B1G coaches survey (at UCLA, Washington, Penn State, at USC, at Northwestern, and at Illinois). Four of those six games will be on the road.

• MSU mentor Jeff Hosler owns a 37-7-10 record in Big Ten games. In his first season (2021), the Spartans went 5-4-1 in conference play, and are 32-3-9 in the four-plus years since. Sunday's win was MSU's fifth consecutive in B1G regular-season play dating back to last October. He is 76-20-22 at MSU overall, and 309-87-40 in his head coaching career (21st season)

• MSU's defense has held opponents to just 75 shot attempts in eight games, with 26 on target (and six goals allowed). Last weekend, MSU allowed just 10 attempts (two on target) and eight corners in the two games combined.

• With 76 corners this season (9.5 per game), MSU leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally behind Harvard (10.5). MSU's opponents have just 31 corners (3.88/game).

•   While MSU is averaging 10.00 fouls per game (12th, B1G), The Spartans have had six games with fewer penalties than their opponents, including a season-low six against UCLA, Eastern Michigan, and Colorado. MSU has single-digit fouls in four of its last five games overall and has committed 80 as compared to 107 for their opponents. MSU has seven yellow cards and no reds, while opponents have 12 yellow and two red (vs. Xavier and North Carolina).

• The Spartans have welcomed home crowds of 1,200+ fans for all their home games this year. MSU has not played at home in three weeks but still rank 10^th nationally (7,551) in overall attendance and seventh (1,888) in average attendance.  MSU has a streak of 33 consecutive home games with crowds of 1,000 fans or more. In fact, 56 of MSU's 64 home games under Jeff Hosler have been over that mark, and have not had less since Oct. 19, 2023 vs. Illinois.

• Kayla Briggs was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. She had a scoring line of 2-2-6 on MSU's LA trip and has scored in three straight games.   She and Kennedy Bell share the team scoring lead, tied for fourth in the Big Ten with five goals (57th, NCAA), third in the league in points (13), and sixth in assists (3). Briggs has the game-winning goal in four of MSU's six wins this year to lead the Big Ten (second nationally). With nine game-winners in her 32 games as a Spartan, Briggs is tied with Bella Najera for eighth all-time in MSU history.

• Bell her second brace of the season at USC (9/10), and the third in her career overall. With a 16-10-42 scoring line in 33 games as a Spartan, Bell is four points away from moving into the all-time top 25 in program history, and two goals away from joining MSU's all-time top 20. In her three-plus years in college soccer, she owns a 19-13-51 line.

• Bella Najera set up both of Bell's goals at USC (9/20), giving her a 1-2-4 scoring line - good for fourth on the team. The senior now has 68 career points, which is 11th among MSU's all-time leading scorers. Her two helpers at USC moved her into 16th place at MSU (16), and her 26 career goals ranks 11th. She has started 72 of her career 76 games, all at MSU. She is the most prolific scorer of any player in the Jeff Hosler era.

• Renee Watson scored her first goal of the season at USC, then set up Briggs' game-winner at UCLA on Sunday. She contributed career bests of four goals and five assists a year ago when playing in the midfield but has played all eight games on MSU's back line in 2026. She has logged 607 minutes this season, (third on the team), going a full 90 against both Notre Dame and UCLA.

• Keeper Bella Schopp has started each of the last five games for MSU, going 3-0-2 and posting three shutouts. She posted consecutive clean sheets to open Big Ten play, and her stat line is now a .692 save percentage and 0.82 GAA. She has a personal shutout streak of 186:17 dating back to the Notre Dame game on Sept. 3.

• Noelle Henning is away from the Spartans while she participates in the 2026 U20 Women's World Cup in Poland. Henning and Team Canada advanced into the quarterfinals on Thursday morning, posting a 3-1 victory over France. They will play DPR Korea on Sunday (12:30 pm ET) for a spot in the semifinals.