The MSU women's soccer team is refusing to live in the past.
The team will open the Big Ten Tournament today at 10:30 a.m. as the No. 3 seed against No. 6 Indiana, a team they beat 1-0 in the regular season.
But head coach Tom Saxton said the Spartans' previous success against the Hoosiers won't guarantee a victory today.
"From my experience, it is very tough to beat one team twice in the same season," Saxton said. "Indiana is a very direct team and very physical team and if they play their style, it doesn't favor us."
Senior midfielder Erin Konheim said Indiana (7-9-2 overall, 3-6-1 Big Ten) is no slouch, but still holds high expectations for herself and her teammates.
"I expect us to win," she said. "If we come out confident and play as hard as we have played, we should get another victory over Indiana."
The Spartans (10-4-5, 6-2-2) return to the tournament this year after not making it last season. Only the top eight teams in the Big Ten qualify for the tourney. Konheim said the difference this year was setting more short-term goals.
"Last year, we set high goals and standards (at the start) and this year we took it one game at a time and the end result was definitely a huge improvement over last year," she said. "We got together and decided we wanted to do the little things."
Because the team missed the cut for last season's tournament, senior defender Nina Mastracci said there is no pressure for the team to excel.
"We have been playing well all season — we have nothing to lose going into this tournament," Mastracci said.
The Spartans have five seniors and will be leaning on them to lead the team. Mastracci said in tournament time, it is important for the seniors to play their best soccer.
"We have a lot of experience on the field and that helps," she said. "The veterans know when they need to step their game up and pick up the younger players who are not having such a good game at times."
The Spartans are coming off a 0-0 tie against Michigan in which their defense was solid, but the offense needed improvement. They were outshot 20-12 by the Wolverines. Saxton said the offense must come up big not only in the Indiana game but throughout the tournament.
"We play more of a possession offense which is something we still need to improve on," he said. "We have played well defensively but we still are not satisfied with our offensive game."
Late in the season, teams are trying to solidify their NCAA tournament bids. But Saxton said even if the Spartans have a poor performance in the Big Ten Tournament, the team has done enough this year to earn a spot.
"If you look at our regular season and our body of work, we should be an at-large selection," he said.
If the Spartans beat the Hoosiers, they will take on the winner of the No. 2 Purdue and No. 7 Wisconsin game at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
