After a very solid performance over the weekend, although ending in a 1-0 loss against #11 Arkansas on the road, Hosler felt like his squad took a step back in this match.

“For everything we did so well on Sunday at Arkansas, I think we really regressed today with our effort and execution,” Hosler said.

Aside from the lack of energy, Hosler noted that the attack was on par with their first exhibition of the year.

“We hit the first defender too often, we were too slow to get the ball off our feet, we did not serve dangerous balls,” Hosler said. 

“With the exception of the corner kick Bri (senior defender Bria Schrotenboer) got her head on, I would be hard pressed to find a really good dangerous attacking moment for us.”

At one point in the match, Hosler made an eight player substitution. In doing so, he tried to send a message to his team, but the message fell on deaf ears.

“I told the group at halftime that they have ten minutes,” Hosler said. “Instead, Oakland was a better team in the first ten minutes. We have not been good starting second halves, we gotta find some answers.”

Even though the game ended in disappointment, there were still some promising performances worth noting. 

Freshman midfielder Emerson Sargeant was a key cog in the offense all evening, and had MSU's first shot on goal of the day, albeit in the 74th minute. 

“I just think there was a lot of space on the outsides,” Sargeant said. "We were having some good combinations and that always helps when you can get the passes off.”

Along with that, redshirt senior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal and her defense garnered another clean sheet, but the result of the game left more to be desired. 

"Just frustrating," the All American Kozal said. "But we are going to learn from that and keep growing and get ready for Sunday."

With the tie, the Spartans moved to 4-1-2 on the young season. Their next match will come Sunday afternoon at home against the #19 Colorado Buffaloes.