MSU Women’s Soccer Beats Colorado to Reach First-Ever Elite Eight
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — For the first time ever, Michigan State’s women’s soccer team is dancing into the Elite Eight. The second-seeded Spartans defeated No. 3 seed Colorado in front of a full DeMartin Stadium crowd during the third round (or Sweet 16) of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon, 2-1.
MSU had exited in this round each of the last two seasons, but it has now broken its short “Sweet 16 curse.” It defeated UW-Milwaukee 4-1 in the first round and seventh-seeded Wake Forest in the second round, as well.
“We want to be one of those programs that are talked about across the national landscape,” head coach Jeff Hosler said after the match about what the win means for his program. “That everyone knows about the level we play, what we do stylistically, the ability to go out and get results against top opponents anywhere, anytime.
“This gives us the opportunity to continue to do that.”
Bella Najera was one of the big differences in the game, scoring both of Michigan State’s goals after going her last 10 matches without one. It’s her second brace of the year, the other coming against Buffalo on Aug. 28.
Freshman goalkeeper Noelle Henning was also huge for the Spartans, making a career-high seven saves.
Michigan State will await either top-seeded Stanford or No. 5 seed BYU in the next round, with those two teams playing on Monday.
If the Cardinal win, MSU would travel out west to face them on the road. The Spartans would host the Cougars in East Lansing if BYU were to advance.
First Half
Just 46 seconds into the game, the Spartans struck first. Najera received a nice centering pass from Sofia Beerworth, and she placed it perfectly inside the right post, past Colorado’s All-American goalie, Jordan Nytes.
“We talked about starting really good, because they [Colorado] come out really strong, as well,” Najera said about her opening goal. “We knew that first goal was going to be really important.”
MSU nearly got up 2-0 just a few minutes later. Renee Watson had an opportunity in front of the net, but Nytes was able to get her body in front of her shot for a big save. Nytes had another fantastic save on a shot from Emerson Sargeant during the eighth minute.
As the several early chances suggest, MSU dominated the possession to start the game. Colorado started applying some more pressure in the middle of the first half, narrowly missing an opportunity to deliver a header through, but the centering pass was just too high or wide.
Its defense and ability to stop Michigan State in transition seemed to drastically improve throughout the opening 45 minutes.
Those chances grew then for the Buffaloes, who then got on the board to tie it up at 1-1 during the 33rd minute. Colorado’s Faith Leyba struck the ball with some real velocity inside the box, and it ricocheted off her teammate, Lexi Meyer, and into the net. That score held into halftime.
Second Half
Michigan State got the first golden chance of the second half, when it was determined after a review that Kennedy Bell was fouled inside the penalty box during the 56th minute. Najera took the penalty shot and secured a brace with her second goal of the game, going to the right side again, as Nytes dove the other way.
“I was totally confident in myself, and I knew I had the placement to get it there, and I kind of read where she went before kicking it,” Najera said about the penalty.
That started applying pressure on Colorado to speed up its offensive attack, but MSU was content to slowly play out of the back after it took the lead.
The packed crowd at DeMartin started feeding off the moment, too, reacting more and more to each play in the hopes that their Spartans could finish off the victory. As time ticked away, MSU kept biding its time, just trying to keep possession for as long as possible and drain the rest of the clock away. The Spartans did just that en route to perhaps the biggest win in program history.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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