“We kind of sat back from the first whistle,” Barker said. “We didn’t play. We didn’t set the tone. We let them set the tone ... but we hung in there. We ended up scoring two goals pretty quickly, so I think that shows we could’ve been in it from the start.

Even in MSU’s losses this year, there have always been moments or stretches of great play from the Spartans. Be it the season opener against Duke , the loss to Maryland at home , or Sunday’s loss against NU , MSU has showed enough in each game to know they have the ability to go toe to toe with great teams.

“I thought the girl’s came out in the second half and showed a lot of character coming back and fighting back,” assistant coach Molly Pelowski said.

Pelowski was called upon to be the interim head coach on Sunday and in practices this week while head coach Helen Knull is gone until Friday. While Pelowski has been with MSU since 2008, she has enjoyed holding the reigns for a brief stint, but also realizes how much Knull does for this program on a daily basis.

“It’s different,” Pelowski explained. “A lot more responsibility in things related to off the field. I have a greater appreciation for what Helen does every day ... It’s fun. Despite the loss, I enjoyed coaching Sunday.”

Knull will be back on the sidelines for MSU on Friday in Ann Arbor , as Rivalry Week is in full effect. The return of Knull in a matchup against an in-state rival should provide enough fuel to fire up the Spartans. But with the Big Ten Tournament right around the corner, MSU knows they have to play their best no matter who the opponent is.

“It’s kind of a now or never,” senior back Alli Helwig . “Unfortunately, we allowed that to happen by not getting a couple of the wins that we needed to get.”