It didn’t look that way at the start of the game, as the Spartans came out of the gates firing with shots on goal by senior midfielder Maureen Pawlak, freshman forward Cara Freeman and sophomore forward Lauren Hill in the first four minutes — none of which found the net.

While the Spartans were struggling to get on the board, Northwestern did so with relative ease. The Wildcats scored twice in a matter of minutes, as Alicia Herczeg broke the scoring open with a goal at the 10:07 mark and Jenny Dunn had an unassisted goal in the 17th minute to give Northwestern a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half.

The Spartans came out of the break with a new look, as sophomore Lindsey Wrege took the goal in place of senior goalkeeper Nicole Galas. The change in goal made no difference to the Wildcats, who added two insurance goals in the second half to claim the 4-0 victory.

Afterward, Saxton said he was hoping the substitution for Galas, who is second on the MSU career shutout list, would be a lift for the team.

He also said that in the season’s remaining games the Spartans are going to have to figure out where they stand, both individually and as a team, and that all positions are open.

“We have to be accountable on both ends. We had some of the best chances of the year in the first 20 minutes,” said Saxton, whose team outshot the Wildcats 15-13.

“We have to be accountable there of making plays and we have to be accountable on the defensive end. We’re asking them to be accountable right now, and we’re going to compete with pride down the stretch.”

The disappointing loss overshadows the Spartans’ first conference win, a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin on Friday in which the Spartans broke a six-game scoreless streak.

Even with Friday’s win, the Spartans’ chances to make the Big Ten Tournament remain slim.

“Because of what was at stake today, we could have put ourselves in a nice position all alone in eighth place and moving forward with some winnable games left,” Saxton said. “It’s very disappointing.”