Michigan State women's soccer to face Duke in Sweet Sixteen

DURHAM, N.C. – Michigan State women’s soccer’s pursuit of program history has reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen. Adding to the drama this year is the journey’s backdrop through the women’s college game’s holy land.

The Spartans are in the heart of ACC country – widely considered nation’s toughest conference – and play their second game in three days on Duke’s Koskinen Stadium. Duke’s campus is only 11 miles from Chapel Hill, home of the 21-time NCAA champion North Carolina and alma mater of soccer icon Mia Hamm.

If that’s not enough, just 18 miles east of Duke is WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, a Raleigh suburb, that again serves as home to the Women’s College Cup for the third straight year and 12^th time since 2003.

But back to the 2024 march.

The fifth-seeded Spartans (14-2-5) remain part of the scene on the cusp of earning their first Elite Eight berth. In Friday’s second-round match, they upset fourth-seeded Texas 3-2 in overtime at Koskinen.

“I’m super-thrilled for our team,” said Michigan State coach Jeff Hosler. “We’ve got a lot experienced players, and we’ve got a lot of players who came back intentionally for this weekend especially.”

Now they return to Duke’s home field for a 6 p.m. Sunday Sweet Sixteen match against the top-seeded Blue Devils (16-2-1). The Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 in the nation by United Soccer Coaches and No. 5 by TopDrawerSoccer.com. The Spartans are Nos. 16 and 13, respectively.

One of those veterans is graduate player Mackenzie Anthony, who scored two goals against Texas, including the game-winner in overtime.

“I play every game like it’s my last,” Anthony said. “That gets emotional. You’ve got to play really hard. You play like you don’t know it’s going to be the end.”

The Spartans’ second of three goals came from sophomore Bella Najera.

“I play for the upper classmen,” Najera said. “They’ve given so much to the program for the past two years I’ve been here. I play every game like it’s the last for them. I want to do anything I can to help the team.”

The Sweet Sixteen isn’t new to the Spartans, who have advanced this far for the second straight year. It’s earning an Elite Eight berth that has eluded the program.

A year ago, Michigan State beat Harvard 1-0 at Brigham Young’s campus in Provo, Utah, in the second round. But the Spartans fell to the top-seeded Cougars in the Sweet Sixteen match at BYU’s stadium. 

After a scoreless first half at BYU, Michigan State took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Gabby Mueller, another one of the veterans who returned in 2024. But BYU rallied with three unanswered goals.

The circumstances of facing the No. 1 seed on its home field remains the same. Duke advanced with a 3-0 win over No. 8 seed Texas Tech.

Duke’s leader scorer, graduate player Maggie Graham, the ACC Midfielder of the Year, scored twice. The third goal was from Mia Oliario, who, oddly enough, grew up in Chapel Hill and transferred from North Carolina after one season to Duke. The sophomore leads the Blue Devils in assists.

Football and basketball, obviously, aren’t the only sports impacted by the transfer portal.

“We’ll have to be at our best,” Hosler said of facing Duke, which won the ACC regular-season title (9-0-1).

But Hosler feels the Spartans gained experience as well as confidence last year despite suffering the BYU comeback.

“We learned about the short turnaround — we don’t play a Friday and a Sunday any other time in the year,” the Spartans’ fourth-year coach said. “I thought we were better at managing the recovery piece and preparation piece, but I think we ran out of gas late in that high altitude and environment of 6,000 fans.

“I think our group has been there before, so I think we can lean on the confidence. We had a lead in that game. That’s what it going to take. We have leave everything on the field Sunday and play with no regrets.”

Michigan State’s win over Texas at Duke had another tinge of overcoming ACC history and tradition. Texas coach Angela Kelly, who is in her 13^th year at the school, played collegiately at North Carolina in the early 1990s.

“I think the Michigan State staff is doing a tremendous job,” Kelly said. “I’m sure they’ll continue to do so.”

How much longer in 2024 remains to be seen.