"I thought that our girls battled tonight," Michigan State Head coach Jeff Hosler said. "From a commitment standpoint to the game plan to a couple different tactical changes we had to make on the fly I thought our girls responded really, really well."

The Spartans played a tough game both offensively and defensively. The score remained tied up at 0-0 until shortly into the second half.

"Michigan did a good job coming out the first five, ten minutes of the second half and settling the game ... but I think it left their backs exposed against our forwards ...there's too many times we have the opportunity to get forward or combine and we lose it cause we're thinking about something else, and we need to move to our second idea quicker," Hosler said.

The dynamics of the game changed when Michigan sophomore midfielder Kacey Lawrence put up a goal a little over the 54-minute mark. Once that shot went in, the pressure was on for both teams, but especially the spartans to tie it back up.

"I think Michigan had more possession than us throughout the course of the match," Hosler said. "They did some really good things moving the ball around, but I think as they got into the final third around the box, we did an incredible job being composed and keeping them at bay for long periods of the game."

There were a few plays throughout where the spartans came close to tying it up, but could not quite get there.

"We were close obviously on the free kick from Ava (Cook) and I thought there were a couple other really good half chances generated, some good pressing moments that led to some chances, but again we're right there, it's one goal difference ... but I'm really proud of their effort tonight," Hosler said.

"The last 15 minutes of the second half, we had our best pressing moments and our best moments to get forward and out of the counter. I think we had to keep that up a little bit," Hosler said.

The Spartans left Ann arbor with their record reading 9-2-3. They'll be back on the field this Sunday at Rutgers at 1pm.

"We've got an incredible opponent, Rutgers," Hosler said. "More of what you saw today. Really athletic group, very technically sound, they're deep. Again, today is a good example, we're in every game and this is only our second Big Ten loss, and I'm looking forward to this group to respond with their best effort on Sunday."