EAST LANSING, Mich. – Sophomore Loren Sefcik scored the game's lone goal in the 30^th minute, as Maryland secured a 1-0 victory over Michigan State to clinch a spot in the 2019 Big Ten Tournament Thursday night.

"It's so hard to do something first anymore in this world, so many things have been done," said head coah Ray Leone. "Us joining the Big Ten Conference, they can put their name in the books forever, that they were the first team to get to the tournament. That matters."

The victory was a historic one for the Terrapins, locking up the program's first-ever berth in the B1G tourney, and the first for Maryland since qualifying for the ACC Tournament in 2013.

Sefcik was the aggressor for most of the night for the Terps, taking a team-high five shots but making her best opportunity in the game count. After neither team found much of a threatening chance in the first half, Malikae Dayes played in a long arching free kick in the 30^th minute to set up the score.

Her ball found the head of Alyssa Poarch, who directed the ball perfectly onto a streaking Sefick, and the Medina, Ohio native didn't let the opportunity slip away burying the strike into the left corner past the outstretched Spartan keeper.

The Terps would carry the 1-0 lead into the locker room and through the second half, as the back line held for its sixth shutout win of the year.

Poarch continued to give the Terps chances to extend the lead down the stretch, working down the right side to play in a handful of dangerous balls into the box. Ultimately, the one goal lead would stand as the Terps rushed the field to greet their teammates and celebrate their historic accomplishment.

UMD will return to action Sunday at Michigan in the team's final game of the regular season.