And Sunday afternoon, Indiana made the big mistake, allowing senior forward Doug DeMartin to shake off his defender, throw out a swift move and slam it into the corner of the net for the game winner with less than seven minutes remaining in the contest.

The MSU men’s soccer team (6-5 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) went on to defeat the Hoosiers 2-0 at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field.

“That’s Big Ten soccer,” DeMartin said. “I’ve gotten used to playing, staying consistent and going at it the entire game. Coach (Joe) Baum said just keep pressing. We were both getting chances. It was really just a team effort. Anyone who watched that game knows we all worked our butts off.”

Indiana (6-4-2, 1-2) didn’t have much time to play from behind by just one goal.

Just 41 seconds later, freshman forward Domenic Barone settled a cross pass from sophomore midfielder Spencer Thompson before torching it into the middle of the net — his first collegiate goal and Thompson’s second assist of the game to make it 2-0.

And with those two big-time goals, sophomore goalkeeper Avery Steinlage couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“They bring a lot of intensity, but our coaches gave us a pretty good scouting report,” he said. “They played hard and they have so many weapons. Anytime you shut out IU, it’s a good feeling.”

And when throwing together a scouting report and prepping his team for a game against a powerhouse like Indiana, Baum said it’s not even necessary to come out and hit them hard early — coasting is a strategy that can work effectively.

“We feel that if we can be even at halftime, that’s exactly where we want to be,” Baum said. “And then after that, you get into the later minutes, we feel that it’s just one big play. DeMartin is a big-play guy and I’ve been in these games when Indiana made the big play, many times. It was sure nice to have a Spartan step up and make it.”

In Baum’s view, MSU looks like a strong choice for the NCAA Tournament. A huge win over an even bigger program couldn’t hurt.

Indiana threw everything they had at Steinlage in the first four minutes of the game — forcing him to make two big plays including a diving goal-saver as well as a corner kick, while another hit the post.

“That would have taken all the momentum away and that’s a lot of pressure,” Steinlage said. “A Big Ten game at home on a Sunday — you don’t want to let one by you.”

DeMartin now has 24 points on the year – where he ranked third nationally going into Sunday’s contest. The senior captain sits atop the NCAA standings with 11 goals as well.