Senior forward Lauren DeBeau, who recorded an assist and a goal in the match, noted that the crowd’s energy was infectious. 

“It's awesome. You could feel the energy,” DeBeau said. “First of all, I want to thank the fans for showing up. It was a new game and we just had a great crowd.”

The Spartans came out swinging to start the match as graduate student forward Camryn Evans started the barrage with a shot that sailed high over the goal about seven minutes in. 

The shots continued throughout the half for the Spartans but sophomore forward Jordyn Wickes eventually broke the first half tie with a kick off of a corner set. The Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week and TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week player was assisted by graduate student defender Ruby Diodati and DeBeau. 

After being named a TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week player for only the second time in program history, Wickes mentioned that it felt good to know that her awards were not given to her because of fluke performances.

“I think winning those awards comes with a little bit of pressure to kind of perform the next time out," Wickes said. "It feels great to know that it wasn't just a fluke or one time thing. I'm here to make a difference on this team and to be able to kind of consistently do that is a really good feeling.”

On that scoring play, DeBeau was confident that Wickes could put the ball in the net. 

"They weren't really guarding that corner from when I was out kind of wide so Ruby tried it and when I looked up, I kind of saw a few targets out there and I know Jordan can get on a lot of good balls and head it down. So as long as you get it around her she'll head that in, so she's a great finisher,” DeBeau said.

It was more of the same for the Spartan’s in the second half but this time it was DeBeau landing in the scoring column with a volley off of a great find by junior midfielder Justina Gaynor.

The goal of all the Spartans was to put Michigan away.

Throughout the match, Michigan played sloppily, racking up countless turnovers. The team only recorded one shot on goal throughout the 90 minutes of play. The Wolverines also played overly physical, leading to three yellow cards being handed out to forward Danielle Wolfe, defender Margot Ridgeway and midfielder Avery Kalitta. 

It was Head Coach Jeff Hosler's first win over Michigan in his MSU career, but he has known what the rivalry means to the Spartans for a long time.

"It's incredible," Hosler said. "I am a local hometown kid that knows all about the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. To get our first win feels really good, especially to do it in the fashion that we did."

With this first win over the Wolverines since 2017, MSU moves to 10-1-3 on the season and will face a struggling Indiana squad at home on Thursday night at 7 p.m.. Hosler believes that this win only further proves that the sky's the limit for his team. 

“It further cements the belief this group has had all year long," Hosler said. "We talk about what we're capable of and I really believe we can beat anybody we play when we're at our best. Obviously, it takes that focus in preparation to do that, but we did all week. I thought we balanced really well the attention to detail and the focus that was needed. We had a little fun as a team this week too in some team building things. This group wants it, they're hungry, it’s a humble group. I know they're not going to rest on this. We'll take our day off tomorrow and get right back after it on Tuesday.”