Ella Janz made sure Michigan State left South Bend with something to show for a night that kept twisting late. With four seconds left, the senior got a touch on Kayla Briggs’ header and knocked in the equalizer as the Spartans battled [RV] Notre Dame to a 2-2 draw on Thursday night.
It was a frantic finish to a game that swung back and forth in the final minutes. Michigan State had already been staring at a 2-1 deficit after Charlie Codd put Notre Dame ahead in the 84th minute, and the tension ratcheted up again when the Irish earned a penalty kick for All-American Izzy Engle in the 89th minute. Engle, making her season debut, sent the attempt wide, and MSU immediately turned the final seconds into a full-throttle scramble.
The last sequence started with Samantha Maroni pushing the ball forward to freshman Lacey Kindel on the right side. Kindel moved right, cut back toward the middle to shake a defender, and delivered a service that found Spartans near the top left corner of the penalty area. Briggs headed it toward goal, and Janz arrived to tip it home at 89:56 for her first goal of the season.
That finish capped a wild closing stretch for the Spartans, who had a pair of shots blocked by defenders from Briggs and Renee Watson as the clock dipped under 30 seconds before finally breaking through.
Michigan State had opened the scoring in the 59th minute when Bella Najera sent in a long free kick from the middle, and Briggs got her right foot to it for her third goal of the season. The lead didn’t last long. Just over two minutes later, Reese Canada lined up a free kick from the right side and slipped it into the upper left corner past Bella Schopp to level things at 1-1.
The second half was far more open than the first. After a scoreless opening 45 minutes, Notre Dame generated 16 shot attempts after the break, with six on frame.
Michigan State thought it had struck first in the 57th minute when Emerson Sargeant got loose in the box and finished, but the play was wiped away by an offsides whistle. Two minutes later, the Spartans did cash in on Najera’s service to Briggs.
Notre Dame also had a chance to seize control when Canada hit the crossbar with a little under 25 minutes left. Gabrielle Poretto collected the rebound and sent it back toward goal, but Schopp punched it over the net to keep MSU alive.
The Irish had spent much of the night chasing the game after Michigan State came out on the front foot. The Spartans owned a 6-0 edge in shot attempts over the opening 22 minutes and forced Sonoma Kasica into three saves. Notre Dame answered with five shot attempts in the next 23 minutes, though MSU’s defense kept those chances from reaching Schopp.
Kasica finished with five saves for Notre Dame. Schopp made three stops, including two big ones late as the game tightened. Notre Dame dropped to 1-0-5, while Michigan State finished its non-conference schedule at 4-0-2.
The Spartans’ non-conference slate included four teams that were either ranked in the top 12 of the United Soccer Coaches national poll at the time of the game, the most of any team in the nation. MSU picked up wins over No.
7 North Carolina, No. 12 Colorado, Xavier, and at Notre Dame.
Briggs ended the night with her third goal of the season and an assist on Janz’s equalizer. She now has a 3-1-7 scoring line, tied with Kennedy Bell for the team lead in goals and second to her classmate in points.
Janz’s goal gave her four points this season, topped her junior-year total of three, and gave her a career-best two assists. She has started all six games and is close to surpassing the 402 minutes she played as a junior, with 325 through six games.
Briggs was one of four Spartans to play the full 90 minutes, along with Faith George, Kennedy Bell, and Renee Watson.
Michigan State now turns to Big Ten play with its longest road trip of the regular season. The Spartans open at Southern Cal on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT on the Big Ten Network, then face No.
18 UCLA three days later in Westwood at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT. MSU returns home on Sunday, Sept. 20 against Michigan at DeMartin Stadium.
In Other News...
Pat Fitzgerald Already Faces Michigan State's Biggest Year 1 Test
Pat Fitzgerald is back in college football, and the first big job waiting for him at Michigan State is less about installing a scheme than restoring a sense of who the Spartans want to be. After three years away from the college game, Fitzgerald arrives with a reputation for toughness and structure, and the early conversation around the program has centered on rebuilding the teams identity from the ground up. A lot of that will start with the quarterback room, where Alessio Milivojevic has emerged as an important figure heading into the season.
The pressure around Year 1 rarely waits for conference play, and Fitzgeralds opening test comes immediately against Toledo. It is the kind of first game that can shape the tone of an entire tenure, especially for a coach trying to put his stamp on a program before the real grind begins. For Michigan State, the questions are not just about how quickly Fitzgerald can make his mark, but whether the pieces already in place can show early signs that the rebuild is headed in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Opener Will Reveal If This Rebuild Is Ready
The season opener offers an early read on two first-year staffs coming at roster building from very different angles. Toledo coach Jacobs is making the jump from FCS to FBS with a group shaped heavily by transfers from his previous program, while Michigan State coach Fitzgerald arrives with plenty of major-college experience but no shortcuts in reconstructing a roster. It is the kind of matchup that says as much about spring and summer work as it does about opening-night football.
For Michigan State, the game is less about reputation and more about how quickly a new team has learned to function as one. The Spartans have spent months trying to blend newcomers with an entirely new staff, and Toledo will provide a useful measure of whether that process has taken hold. The result will not settle everything about either program, but it should tell the Spartans a lot about how ready this rebuild really is. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Is Making A Sideline Change Fans Will Notice Fast
Michigan State is making a sideline adjustment this fall that should be obvious the moment the Spartans take the field. Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and defensive coordinator Joe Rossi will be down on the field during games, a change from last season when both coordinators were working from the press box before Rossi eventually moved to the sideline in the middle of the year.
The shift comes as the NCAA has removed the rule that had limited the number of coaches, opening the door for Michigan State to carry 31 coaches and use additional staff in the press box to help communicate information. For a program trying to sharpen operation and get everyone in the right place before the snap, the setup gives the Spartans a different kind of game-day structure, even if the bigger question is still how much smoother it will make everything once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]