But in the end, it was the MSU men’s soccer team that used physicality to its advantage en route to a 1-0 victory over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field — its third straight win.

Even with all the crowd gasps and tough overall play, MSU (5-4 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) head coach Joe Baum wouldn’t refer to any of it as “dirty.” And for a 0-0 game for 84 minutes, it was by no means a snoozer in his eyes.

“People said to me before the game, ‘What do you think?” he said. “I said it would be a very physical, one-goal game. I called that. I figured 1-0, 2-1 — real physical. This is Big Ten men’s soccer, that’s how we play here. Teams were defending with a passion; people were going for 50-50 balls with a passion.”

And those 84 minutes were packed with more than two dozen shots on net and five yellow cards — four of those being on the Badgers (4-4-2 overall, 0-2-1).

When Wisconsin fell back for a second, MSU punished them with just six minutes remaining. Freshman midfielder Cyrus Saydee aimed a lofty cross ball to senior forward Doug DeMartin, who leapt and headed the ball to the corner of the goal and a Badgers defender unintentionally grazed the shot with his hand — sparking whistles to go off and setting DeMartin up for the game-winning penalty kick.

Without hesitation, the captain buried the shot in the lower left-hand corner of the net before being ambushed by his team — the crowd erupting louder than it had all afternoon.

The goal couldn’t have been more fitting for DeMartin — whose family was honored two hours prior for their donation of $750,000 leading to the construction of DeMartin Stadium.

“It almost sounds like a storybook ending, but Doug’s a very fine player — leading the conference in scoring (10 goals),” Baum said. “You give him enough chances, he’s going to bury one. And I felt real confidence going into the penalty, I didn’t think Doug DeMartin was going to miss it.”

A barrage of shots fired inside the 18-yard box with two minutes remaining put the Spartans on their heels before Wisconsin’s Scott Lorenz skidded one out of bounds — their last failed opportunity to even the score.

“We knew they were going to come out — they’re a good squad,” senior defender David Hertel said. “Big Ten games are usually pretty physical. It comes down to the team — the want and the desire. You’re going to get knocked in this game, so you have to be willing to get up and grit your teeth and go back to work.”

DeMartin fired a game-high six shots — including a couple he wished he could have had a second chance at, knowing he could have put his team ahead earlier in the contest.

But he kept his cool.

“Coach Baum is always telling me to get the next one,” said DeMartin, who has 22 points this season. “That’s one of the things that I think I’ve gotten better at here as I’ve gotten older. Your attitude has to be there. You get down on yourself but you gotta get right back in it.”

MSU heads to Notre Dame for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday.