“We kept our foot on the gas,” Hosler said. “That's what we needed to do. It's a mentality you have to have in postseason play. Because as you see, you can't just sit back and expect to see games out that way.”

The team heard Hosler’s message and kept attacking until they finally got one to go 55 minutes in. Junior midfielder Justina Gaynor took it upon herself to tie things up.

The Gaynor show continued throughout the second half as Justina's sister, graduate student midfielder Celia Gaynor, pushed a header over redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kendall Edwards to give MSU the lead.

Justina said that even though the lights were bright, they were prepared to step up when the team needed them.

"That was pretty special," Justina said. "It's a huge stage. Neither of us have been here before so I think we both embraced the moment and gave it everything that we had. And we were fortunate enough to capitalize on our moments. Honestly, maybe not fortunate. We were prepared. ... I think we just took advantage of opportunities ahead of us and we're able to contribute that way to everyone tonight."

Milwaukee was not dead yet, though, as they managed to tie things up in the last seconds with a goal from sophomore forward Kayla Rollins.

The goal sent the match into extra time—something the Spartans had not experienced all season long.

It took about 15 minutes of extra time play for graduate student forward Camryn Evans to come alive when MSU needed her most. A well-executed fast break made her wide open for the game-winning score.

All Evans could think to herself when she was shooting the finisher was not to miss.

"It was a perfect pass and the perfect setup, and it was just to do it and know how to pull it back to the ball and just let it do the rest,” Evans said.

Hosler credited the Panthers for making it very tough on his team, but he was very proud of the way that his squad pushed through the strong opponent.

"For our kids to show the resilience to play from behind to come back in overtime after that late equalizing goal—I have been doing this a long time and there's not very many teams that come back from a moment like that emotionally and still come on to execute," Hosler said. "I am so happy for our group, tough as they showed, and this should serve us well moving forward."

This was the first time ever that the program has hosted an NCAA Tournament game, and the crowd showing did not disappoint.

"Once again, this environment with this community, both local and Michigan statewide," Hosler said. "The messages we had all week, from coaches we know and players we know from out of state even coming into the area for this match. I think we're creating one of the best soccer environments in the country right here. And the support that we've had our team thrives on it."

MSU will move on to the second round for only the third time ever next Friday and will face five-seed TCU after they beat UTSA 3-1 in their opening-round matchup. The game will be held at DeMartin Field in East Lansing.