Michigan State junior forward Emerson Sargeant scored four minutes into overtime as the second-seeded Spartans knocked off third-seeded UCLA, 2-1, in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals Thursday night in St. Louis. MSU advances to Sunday’s championship, where it will face top seed and Big Ten regular-season champion Washington.
Sargeant stole an errant pass by UCLA goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor and immediately delivered a shot into an empty UCLA net, before running to the corner flag, where Sargeant was mobbed by her teammates in celebration.
Sargeant also scored in the 67th minute to tie the game, receiving a pass through the box from forward Kennedy Bell, before shooting past a diving Nakfoor.
UCLA midfielder Emma Egizii scored in the 11th minute to give the Bruins an early lead.
MSU goalkeeper Noelle Henning made six saves on the night, while six Spartans played the entire 94 minutes in earning the semifinal win. MSU previously took down Northwestern, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.
The No. 9-ranked Spartans (12-3-5) meet No. 13 Washington (13-2-5) at 2 p.m. (ET) Sunday in St. Louis. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network. MSU and Washington did not face each other in the regular season.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women’s soccer scores overtime winner, advances to Big Ten tournament final
Reporting by Nathaniel Bott, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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