After taking the opening kickoff, Chapman took off towards the net. Meanwhile the ball went from junior midfielder Fatai Alashe to senior defender Ryan thelen who played a ball up to junior forward Tim Kreutz, who put the cross in.

“We tried it twice yesterday, and it didn’t work once in practice,” Kreutz said. “We just decided to go out and try it, and it worked perfectly. It just fell to my foot, the defence didn’t know what was going on. I just hit it toward goal and Jay was there to finish it.”

It was a lead they wouldn’t give up.

They added a second in the 11th minute after Alashe stayed in control with the ball despite being on his back. he passed to Kreutz in front of the net for the easy tip in.

The Golden Grizzlies pressed for the rest of the half, but only managed to get two shots on goal in the period.

Junior forward Adam Montague said getting a pair of early on took the weight off their shoulders and allowed them to sit back and take get comfortable.

“We finished our chances and didn’t make the game hard on ourselves,” junior forward Adam Montague said. “We moved the ball pretty well regardless. It’s nice to not be looking over your shoulder the whole game and have a barrier between you and the other team.”

MSU came out in the second half and found the attacking spirit they lost in the 1-1 tie against Ohio State last Sunday.

Kreutz completed his brace when he connected on a shot from 15 yards out on the right side of the goal.

The Spartans have been in some chippy games this season, but this one might take the cake.

Oakland goalkeeper Sean Lewis, older brother of freshman midfielder Dewey Lewis, was cautioned in the 27th minute, and instead of being sent off with less than two minutes left in the game, was allowed to be subbed out.

Defender Nick Kristock added to the card count after a yellow in the 55th minute, and Jacob VanderLaan was shown a straight red in the 59th minute for language.

“What you had here is two teams that haven’t lost in a long time,” head coach Damon Rensing said. “You had state pride and you had two brothers playing. There was just a lot on the line and the game went in our favor. That’s a natural tendency with a game like that.”

The Spartans return to the field at 2:30 p.m. Sunday against Big Ten leaders Penn St.

Montague said with both teams coming into the tie unbeaten in the conference this game could be the ultimate decider for the regular season crown.

“This game is going to mean a lot for us if we’re looking at the bigger picture and the longer term goals,” Montague said. “That’s really going to set us up if we can win that game Sunday.”