Trying to set the tone early, MSU took control of the first fifteen minutes of the contest.

Just over five minutes in, sophomore forward Megan Fenton took advantage of a nice cross from senior forward Abby Barker to give her team the early lead.

“It was a great setup by all my teammates and it was a team effort to put it in the back of the net,” Fenton said. “It was just a quick, easy finish that needed to happen so we could get the game going and execute our goals.”

Less than two minutes later, junior forward Claire Johnson took the ball off a penalty corner and fired one past Maine goalkeeper Emily Corbett.

With 20:00 left in the first half, MSU held the shot advantage at 10-2. It looked as if they might start to run away with the match, but sloppy play and defensive miscues let the Black Bears right back into the game.

At 17:29 of the first half, Cassidy Svetek of Maine pulled her team within one goal. Shortly after, Barker did what Barker does and dribbled down the right side of the field before firing a shot right through Corbett.

Right when it looked like MSU had the momentum back in their favor, Maine was able to score two goals in less than a minute to tie the game at 3-3. To make matters worse heading into halftime, Maine’s Nicole Sevey scored off another penalty corner with only 2:30 minutes remaining to give the lead back to the opposing team, 4-3.

“We started the game playing our game. We had a good flow going. Our off ball movement was strong,” Head Coach Hellen Knull said. “I said to them it was almost like they took their foot off the gas.”

Early in the second half, MSU was able to ease the pressure by tying the game off Fenton’s second goal of the game.

From then on, both defenses tightened up and were not allowing many offensive rushes.

The Spartans were afforded three straight penalty corners late in the second half, but good defensive blocks by UM and a stubborn post kept MSU off the scoreboard.

With less than a minute to play, the Black Bears generated a quick scoring chance and nearly broke the Spartans’ spirit for the second time in three days.

A great defensive block and a huge save from sophomore goalkeeper Sierra Patton, who played great after allowing four goals in the first half, kept MSU alive.

Entering the first overtime, MSU was outshooting their opponent 27-13. On the 28th shot of the game, senior forward Allie Ahern scored the game-winner off a penalty corner less than two minutes into OT. Ahern had two assists to go along with her game-winning goal, and Barker added an assist to go along with her tally.

“We were tested today and we were tested Friday with two overtime games,” Knull said. “There’s areas of our game we have to clean up. It’s going to come back next week. I’ve already told the girls to get ready to put their work shoes on for Tuesday’s practice.”

Coming out of the weekend with a split against Duke and Maine, MSU will look to build on this win heading into next weekend in Washington D.C. The Spartans will play Saint Joseph’s and American on consecutive days starting on Sept. 6.