The assist came when Koehler won the ball just outside the box and centered it to graduate student forward Camryn Evans for a cheeky goal in the first half.

Head Coach Jeff Hosler had mentioned that MSU needed Evans to return to producing for the squad and she certainly did so Thursday afternoon.

“Cam's always a threat to get in behind,” Hosler said. “I think that's where she's most comfortable. First-half shots she had a couple opportunities to do so and had an opportunity early in the second half as well to run in those into those spaces and the first goal was just quality, especially getting on her left leg and finishing it the way that she did, it's massive. Goal scorers, when they see the ball at the back of the net, they start to get them in bunches a little bit and that's what we are hoping for with Cam.”

Then, in the second half, Koehler took a feed from junior forward Ranya Senhaji down the left side of the field and drilled her shot past the stout junior Cornhusker goalkeeper Sami Hauk.

That goal was all that was needed to send Nebraska back to Lincoln. 

Koehler, a Texas native, said that it was her turn to pull some weight when she was asked about her uplifting performance. 

“I think throughout the Big Ten everyone has played a big part and holds a lot of weight,” Koehler said. “So I was like, it's my opportunity. You get a little knocked down, you gotta build up from that. I think it was a good motivation and it was a good opportunity.”

Hosler thought his team started out a little bit tight in the first half, noting that he had some blame for that, but he believes his bench stepped up in a big way to help negate that tightness. 

“I probably messed this one up a little bit as we started in a different formation in an environment like this,” Hosler said. “I think we're just a little bit tight. You combine those things with some changes to the first 11 in a different formation and we didn't play the instinctual, aggressive Spartan soccer we've come accustomed to, particularly over the last two months."

"Obviously we have to get back to that, but I think the biggest positive going forward is the depth we used today. That's gonna give us the opportunity to have essentially fresh legs going into Sunday's match and some confidence from those players that did come off the bench in playing that role and played really good minutes today. We don't get that result if our bench doesn't come up the way it did today.”

The Cornhuskers gave the Spartans all they could handle and Koehler noted that Nebraska came out with a lot of fight since a lot was on the line.

“Either you win or you're out," she said. "I think they came in with a lot of heart. So then you just have to match that and I think we were able to pull through. It's a pretty nerve-wracking experience but we were able to ... get through that and we're moving on so it's good.”

With the win, MSU makes history by breaking its single-season program record for wins with 16 and advancing to their first ever Big Ten Tournament Championship appearance. Hosler said that everything that has happened so far this season has been crazy.

“The last few weeks has been pretty surreal,” Hosler said. “This is a special group. It's amazing what commitment, belief, buy in and being team first can do for a group. Now it's you have to have that talent and the ability to execute but I'm just so proud of this group. The way they keep coming back to go undefeated in the regular season and now to beat Minnesota and Nebraska who we didn't get the opportunity to play in our unbalanced schedule and get results are great.”

MSU will have a couple of days before it faces sixth-seeded Penn State in the championship. The Nittany Lions upset Northwestern 2-0 Thursday and will be thirsty for revenge after the Spartans went on the road and beat them at the end of September.

Hosler said a lot of things will be going on over said days.

“A lot of players are going to take the opportunity to start the recovery process,” Holser said. “Start preparing that way, I gotta get some food in their system a couple times here this afternoon and in the evening and make sure we get a good night's sleep. The nice thing is now ... we have time to decompress a little bit and be able to get a full night's rest. For the players it is waking up in the morning and getting ready to go again. We'll have our first look at the film training session with some more regen and opportunities for our group and approach this Friday just like we have every Friday all season long. For the coaches, the long nights continue.”

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Lower.com Field. Big Ten Network will broadcast the match live.