"No better way to spend Thanksgiving than with your Spartan family," head coach Jeff Hosler said in a media availability on Tuesday. "Getting over the Sweet 16 hurdle this year was really big for us."

With that belief behind them, the Spartans will hope to upset Stanford and move on once more — but the Cardinals are a formidable opponent. Stanford owns a 19-1-2 overall record and a 13-0 home record. They are not only the favorite to win this matchup, but the whole tournament. 

Hosler said his team will "play free and play hard" against Stanford. With the odds stacked against them, the Spartans will have to pull off something special. While MSU has excelled in attack, Stanford is even more dominant. After scoring six against BYU in the Sweet 16 and seven against Alabama in the second round, Stanford will force MSU to defend — an area that has not been a strong point for the Spartans this season.

Stanford has scored a whopping 90 goals this season to MSU’s 55. Many of these goals come from crosses reaching players at the back post, which is an attacking play that has already thwarted the Spartans multiple times. Not only that, but the Cardinals’ goals come from all over the field — from players in a variety of positions to goals scored from any limb, anywhere. MSU will not only need to stifle this potent attack, but also break a solid defense that has conceded 20.

"We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain," Hosler said. Although few will expect the Spartans to pull off a miraculous win, the coaching staff is embracing the opportunity to be seen as the underdog and sneak under the radar. 

Hosler said the team’s focus will be putting pressure on the Cardinals. Alabama proved that even when Stanford scored 7 goals on them, they could get 3 back. With the personnel MSU has available, a high-scoring game from both teams is not out of the question.

The Spartans will rely on stars such as junior forward Kennedy Bell and junior midfielders Kayla Briggs, Emerson Sargeant and Bella Najera — who was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Team of the Week for her brace against Colorado — to drive the team forward, along with dependable figures in the backline — like senior defender Maggie Illig — to stop Stanford’s relentless attack. The entire MSU squad will need to step up and dig deep to get a result.

"The pressure’s all on them — they’re at home, they’re technically the favorite," Hosler said. "I don’t mind it one bit … we want to be the team with the target on our back."

With this nothing-to-lose mentality, only one thing is guaranteed for the Spartans: an entertaining game fitting for two of the top eight teams in the nation.