Later in the half, junior defender Bria Schrotenboer saved the Spartans from going down 2-0 with a comeback deflection in the box. She knew when the play was happening that the Gophers were not going to come away with a score.

“I think that's just a good example of everyone kind of being there for each other and doing their job,” Schrotenboer said. “Obviously, we always count on Lauren to do hers and things are just going to happen like that. She made a great save and she is obviously not in the net so then the next person has got to do their job. I stepped up, Raegan Cox was in the net with me too, she stepped up. Whoever it was gonna come to, we were gonna save that ball. That wasn’t going in.”

Minnesota played aggressively early on, keeping the Spartans on their toes defensively and not allowing MSU to have any shots on goal in the first half. 

For the first time since Sept. 25, MSU was trailing in regulation. Head Coach Jeff Hosler knew he had to challenge his squad at the break.

“It has been a long time,” Hosler said. “This will obviously serve us really well moving forward, being able to come back. We're undefeated in the regular season, but we didn't get a chance to play them and they had us in a tough spot. It's really playing to that tune a little bit with our group. They obviously created some problems for us with their direct style and we had to come out and play it with more of a sense of urgency. I think we didn't have the same intensity, frankly, the same swagger we've been playing with and we need to have that early.”

The second half was a different story though, as MSU came out firing. About 13 minutes into the half, Wickes knotted the contest up off a perfectly placed header from junior midfielder Zivana Labovic. Graduate student and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ruby Diodati was also credited with an assist. 

Wickes then did it herself on her second goal of the day that came about 17 minutes later. 

This is the first career multi-goal game for the super-sub. The second score was all the Spartans needed to keep their Big Ten Tournament Title hopes alive. 

After a slow start offensively in the first half, Wickes noted that the team had to capitalize on key opportunities in the second-45 if they were to survive and advance. 

“I noticed that we were able to go at them once we kind of had control and possession,” Wickes said. “We were able to kick it around a couple times. They were able to spread out and we could get those looks to goal that we got. There's a lot that goes into the game and kind of being able to exploit those moments. We just had to capitalize. We had those opportunities, and we just had to figure out a way to put it in the back of the net.”

With the win, MSU keeps its nine game win streak alive. The Spartans will head to Columbus for their semifinal match against No. 4 Nebraska this Thursday. Kickoff for that bout is set for 2 p.m. at Lower.com Field.