The Ohio State men’s soccer team (2-6-4, 0-2-1) ended a four-game scoreless streak when it tied the No. 18 Michigan State Spartans, 1-1, in double overtime. The Buckeyes have now gone eight matches without recording a win.

Buckeye coach John Bluem said he was impressed with the way the team fought back against the Spartans.

“I think today was one of the best efforts all season. Everybody who played worked extremely hard and we worked together has a team,” he said. “It was good to finally score and again, I feel bad for the guys that they couldn’t get a win today because they deserve to get a win because they try hard and their spirits are fantastic.”

Buckeye junior midfielder Ryan Ivancic scored the game-tying goal with less than six minutes left in regulation.

Redshirt-junior midfielder Kofi Agyapong sent in a low cross from the left side of the field to Ivancic, who was waiting back post. Ivancic controlled the ball and found the back of the net, sending the game into overtime. It was Ivancic’s second goal of 2013.

Ivancic, who now leads the Buckeyes in goals scored, said the team showed a lot of hard work in the game against a tough in-conference opponent.

“We possessed the ball a lot better than we have been and we showed a lot of resiliency, and we got a goal, which was big,” Ivancic said. “I think that if we can get a couple more goals in our next game it will really jump start the team.”

MSU (7-1-2, 1-0-1) outshot the Buckeyes 5-2. Fortunately for OSU, redshirt-junior goalkeeper Alex Ivanov was able to save the only two Spartan shots that were on goal, maintaining the draw.

The Spartans scored the first goal of the match in the 64th minute when junior forward Adam Montague headed the ball past Ivanov to give MSU a 1-0 lead. Montague fired nine shots in the match and the goal was his fourth of the season.

Ivanov, who recorded eight saves in the match, said that getting a point out of a game like this is big as the team heads into the later part of their schedule.

“(The goal) was good for motivation for the team to try and get more goals,” he said. “It’s good for our confidence and shows we can play against anyone left on our schedule, so hopefully we can continue playing like this and get some wins in our upcoming games.”

OSU will be back in Columbus when it plays No. 14 Northwestern Oct. 20. The match will be played in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m.