The MSU women's soccer team extended its winning streak to three games on Sunday by defeating Northwestern 2-1 at Old College Field.
Despite being winless in the conference, the Wildcats presented problems for the Spartans throughout the game.
"Northwestern is an excellent team - there's no way they should be struggling in the Big Ten," head coach Tom Saxton said. "Their talent is not reflected in their record right now and we knew we had to play a very good game."
Senior forward Emma Harris gave the Spartans (8-3-3 overall, 4-1-0 Big Ten) an early advantage midway through the first half when she netted her team-leading ninth goal of the year.
But Northwestern (7-6-1 overall, 0-5-1 Big Ten) came back to tie the score off a corner kick midway through the second half.
Harris then scored her second goal of the game late in the second half to give the Spartans the victory.
Saxton said he was pleased with his team's performance and the way they handled the pressure.
"In other years with many younger teams in that situation they would be prone to put their heads down because they let (Northwestern) tie it," Saxton said. "But we jumped right back at them which is really important."
Harris' two goals gave her four for the week and 10 for the season, making her the first Spartan since 1998 to score that many goals in a season.
"Forwards are out there to score goals and she's out there doing her job," Saxton said.
Despite being outshot by Northwestern 10-5, the Spartans managed to maintain a defensive presence throughout the game.
"We had to defend as a unit and had to keep attacking them," Harris said. "We couldn't sit back and let them come at us. We had to try for that next goal."
Sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Galas shut down the Wildcats after their second-half goal, finishing with three saves in the victory.
Saxton said the Spartans' schedule will only get tougher as they hit the road to play Iowa and Illinois this week.
But with a 4-1 record in the Big Ten, the Spartans have put themselves in good position for the season's stretch run, Saxton said.
"If we keep stringing some wins together, we'll have a chance to compete for the conference championship and we haven't been in that position in a long time," Saxton said.
