The Big Bear Trophy, which has gone to the winner of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry in men's soccer since Michigan coach Steve Burns introduced it 10 years ago, epitomizes the physical play between these two in-state foes. But it was a little finesse that led the Wolverines to claim the honor on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

The 3-2 overtime victory against the 23rd-ranked Spartans (2-4-0 Big Ten, 11-5-0 overall) is just Michigan's second win in the trophy's 10-year history (2-7-1) and the first in seven years.

The Wolverines (3-2-0 Big Ten, 10-4-3 overall) entered Senior Day after coming off an offensive explosion against the Falcons, which carried into their final home game against Michigan State on Saturday. With their NCAA Tournament hopes on the bubble, the Wolverines needed a win against the Spartans, who rank fifth in RPI. The Wolverines came into this contest at 42nd, and the top-48 teams get into the tournament, making the game a must-win for a Michigan team that has not made the NCAAs since 2008.

“It’s such a great rivalry,” Burns said after the game. “We have the traveling trophy which … I don’t think there’s too many traveling trophies at the D-I level, but that’s the tip of the iceberg. We know each other, we recruit against each other, we compete in the Big Ten.”

Michigan got off to a hot start riding the momentum of redshirt junior goalkeeper Chris Blais’s first career penalty-kick save. Shortly after Blais preserved the scoreless tie, senior forward Justin Meram worked off of a defensive miscue by the Spartans, chipping it past the Spartan goalkeeper inside the left post to put the Wolverines up 1-0 late in the first half.

In the second half, the Wolverines dominated offensively, led by the strong play of sophomore midfielder Latif Alashe. Despite starting every game of his two-year career, Alashe had yet to net a goal. But after several good offensive possessions for the Northville native, Alashe fought his way through a Michigan State defender to redirect senior-midfielder Alex Wood’s cross to the right side of the net.

“It was unbelievable,” Alashe said. “I’ve been waiting for my first goal for so long … Before every game some of the guys tell me, ‘I think you’re going to get the goal today.’ Every day, I go in with the mentality that today is going to be the day.”

After Alashe’s goal put the Wolverines up two, Michigan couldn’t hold off a fierce Spartan attack, which controlled the ball and tempo for the rest of regulation. After missing a penalty kick earlier in the game, junior Spartan forward Domenic Barone redeemed himself with a pair of second-half goals, the second of which sent the game into overtime.

With the momentum on Michigan State’s side, the Wolverines looked to make a statement early in overtime.

“I was thinking we just needed to settle it down and play our game,” sophomore midfielder Hamoody Saad said. “They came up with two goals and changed the whole game and it seemed like we were on our back feet, so after that, I wanted the team to settle down.”

Michigan seemed to settle down nicely as solid defense sparked the Wolverine offense. Three promising breakaways from Meram, early in overtime, were thwarted by the Spartan defense.
With overtime winding down Hamoody took the game into his own left foot, despite being a natural righty. The game-winning lob from more than 35 yards out found its way between the goalie's outstretched arms and the top crossbar.

“This means that we’re growing, and I think we’re finally getting to get our self our own name," Hamoody said about the win. “It used to be always Michigan State, Michigan State. Michigan was never really heard of. Finally, I felt like this year we had it … we really needed to win these last games, and I think we came together and finally answered.”

The Michigan senior class could not have been sent off in better fashion.

“I think this might have been the greatest game in terms of drama and importance in the history of this program,” Burns said.