The Maryland men’s soccer team was well aware a tie Sunday against Michigan would guarantee a home game in the Big Ten tournament, but the team was far more concerned with trying to pick up its fourth consecutive win to close put the regular season.

So when defender Brett St. Martin scored in the 78th minute to level the scoreline, it wasn’t an option to settle for a draw — one that would’ve been good enough to host a quarterfinal this Sunday.

But when the ball skipped over the leg of Terps defender Johannes Bergmann and rolled to Wolverines forward Jack Hallahan with no defenders in front of him, that luxury was lost. With the game ending abruptly just 33 seconds into overtime, Maryland knew it wouldn’t be playing at Ludwig Field this weekend.

Still, the Terps aren’t intimidated by a few road games, if those are what it takes to potentially keep their entire season alive.

“Wherever we go, we’re going to play our hardest and we’re going to give the team a run for their money anywhere,” St. Martin said Monday. “We can make a tournament run, and I think we can win it all.”

[Read more: Maryland men’s soccer ran out of late-game magic against Michigan]

The Terps began the final day of conference play in fourth place but could’ve moved up or dropped a spot. With both Maryland and Michigan State losing, both teams fell a position in the standings and are now slated to meet up Sunday in East Lansing.

Yet even with their No. 5 seed — the lowest they’ve had in five years in the Big Ten — the Terps are unfazed.

“We came out a little slow, picked ourselves up and had a good second half,” midfielder Andrew Samuels said. “Moving forward, for us to have favorable seeding in the NCAA tournament, we have to go out and do well in the Big Ten tournament.”

[Read more: With Paul Bin ailing, Vinicius Lansade came through for Maryland soccer vs. Penn State]

Maryland still feels it’s playing its best soccer of the season. After an 0-2-2 start to the season, the Terps are 7-4-1 since, including upset wins over then-No. 7 Denver and then-No. 18 Coastal Carolina.

Samuels noted that Wisconsin won the tournament last year as the fifth seed and feels Maryland can do the same.

But there’s a daunting road to the championship. In addition to No. 17 Michigan State, No. 2 Indiana — the first team to go 8-0 in Big Ten play in conference history — is also on the same side of the bracket.

Coach Sasho Cirovski feels the Terps match up well with them.

“There’s not a single team that I fear out there, not a single team that we can’t compete with or beat,” he said. “We know we have some really tough teams coming up here and this Sunday will be a great opportunity for us to rectify the poor performance in [October against Michigan State].”

Maryland has scored in each of its last five games and 10 of its last 12 after beginning the year scoreless in the first four contests — the longest scoring drought to start a season in program history.

While the Terps have been playing well overall, they’ve excelled at Ludwig Field, the site of all three games in the winning streak snapped by the Wolverines.

St. Martin said it would’ve been huge to play at home again, especially given the atmosphere and the second-best average attendance in the nation.

Samuels, a senior who has been at Maryland for three home quarterfinals games, knows the burden of having to paying road games in the postseason.

“Travel is a big thing,” Samuels said. “Knowing that I could sleep in my bed the night before and then go out and play the game the next day in front of a home crowd on a field that I know that I’m used to, with the ball we’re used to use to playing with in training everyday.”

Still, Maryland has played well outside College Park overall. Of the team’s three road losses this season, one came in overtime in Sunday and another with only 18 seconds left in regulation against Indiana.

While taking the field in College Park would’ve been an added benefit, the Terps remain optimistic going to East Lansing this weekend.

“The Ludwig atmosphere is a huge positive for us, but we’re going to have to go on the road,” St. Martin said. “And I think that’s still OK.”