Spartans Suffer First Loss of 2026, Fall to Michigan 3-1

Sunday, September 20

1 PM

Michigan State University

6-1-2, 2-1-0

Michigan

4-1-3, 2-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Michigan	0	3	3
Michigan State	0	1	1

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9/20/2026 7:18:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

East Lansing, Mich. – No. 1 Michigan State suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday, falling to Michigan, 3-1.

Michigan (4-1-3, 2-1 Big Ten) snapped a four-game losing streak to the Spartans, and scored its 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 clicked early. Emerson Sargeant had the goal for Michigan State (6-1-2, 2-1-0 Big Ten) and Bella Schopp made two saves.

The teams played through a steady rain throughout a scoreless first half, where the Spartans dominated the statistical sheet – MSU had a 10-5 edge in shot attempts, including seven on target. The Spartans broke through shortly after intermission - Sargeant scored her third of the season on an impressive individual effort in the 49^th minute. She picked up the ball in MSU's defensive third and carried the ball up the right side with a defender on her hip and drove into the box. She made a move to fake out the defender, and went at a sharp angle from the edge of the penalty area and off the hands of the Michigan keeper. The Spartans nearly doubled the lead in the 57^th minute as a shot by Ella Janz bounced off the crossbar.

Sargeant dribbles up the sideline and does this one all by herself. 1-0 MSU! pic.twitter.com/s29rYIdpzc
— Michigan State Women's Soccer (@MSU_wsoccer) September 20, 2026

The rain subsided as the teams entered the final 30 minutes of play, and the Wolverines produced their best six-minute stretch of the game. 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 (set up by Jablinskey) to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.

The Spartans were not done, but the physicality of the Wolverine side kept MSU from regaining much of its first-half offensive flow. Bella Najera 's shot in the 79^th minute was maybe MSU's best look late, but her shot was deflected by Zillman as it was headed for the lower left corner.

Michigan's Campbell Jewell picked up red card in the 87^th minute on her second booking of the game, giving MSU a man advantage for the final three minutes. Michigan had four yellow cards and a 19-11 edge in fouls, while MSU had season bests in shot attempts (21) and shots on goal 10).

SCORING
49' – UM 0, MSU 1 | Emerson Sargeant picked up the ball in front of the Michigan bench and dribbled up the sideline into the offensive third with defender Campbell Jewell on her hip. Once she got into the box, she faked out Jewell and got to the side of the penalty area, and her right-footed shot went off the hands of the keeper Zillman for a 1-0 Spartan lead.
62' – UM 1, MSU 1 | Off a corner play, Ella Jablinski shot from the right side of the top of the box and shot into the left side, just out of the reach of the reach of a diving Bella Schopp.
65' – UM 2, MSU 1 | Jablinskey scored her second of the game when she came in from the left side and beat a defender from the side of the penalty area.
68' – UM 3, MSU 1 | Jablinskey set up Maya Raghunandanan to make it a 3-1 game.

Notables

Emerson Sargeant had the goal for Michigan State, the 15^th of her career. She now owns a 15-18-48 scoring line, ranking 23^rd all-time in points in program history.
MSU surrendered three goals, its most in a game this season. The Spartans had conceded just six goals in its first eight contests.
Michigan keeper Malia Zillman made seven first-half saves, which matched the season high for any MSU opponent this season. She finished the game with eight.
Michigan had 19 fouls (11 for MSU) and collected three yellow and one red card in the game.
This was the second time in program history that Michigan State held the No. 1 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Spartans are 0-1-2 all-time as the No. 1 team in the country.
Michigan State's scoreless streak against Michigan ended at 242:38, dating back to the final minute of the teams meeting in 2023 in Ann Arbor. The 2024 and 2025 games ended in 1-0 wins for the Spartans. Kali Burrell had scored the last UM goal against MSU at 89:09 of the 2023 matchup.

UP NEXT
Michigan State continues a three-game homestand with a pair of Big Ten games on next week's schedule. The Spartans welcome Nebraska to town on Thursday (7 pm) before taking on No. 11 Washington in a rematch of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday at 1 pm. Single-game tickets for MSU Women's Soccer are available by visiting sprtns.co/WSOC26tix.