When Michigan State forward Farai Mutatu wound up and fired a shot headed toward the upper-right corner of the net in the 55th minute Sunday, Terps goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair needed to make an incredible save to keep it out — something the Maryland men’s soccer team has rarely asked him to do this year.

The 6-foot-4 St. Clair relied on his entire wingspan to get his left hand in front of the ball, tipping it away for a Spartans corner kick.

Untested for most of the season, St. Clair was peppered with quality shots in key moments during the Big Ten quarterfinal against Michigan State, and he came up with five stops to keep the Spartans off the board. His two diving saves in the second half gave his team an energy boost to eventually score the winner in the 98th minute.

“That changes the energy of the game when you see the commitment to a ball like that and the stretch,” midfielder Amar Sejdic said. “It really inspires the group and shows we’re still in this, fighting and scrapping.”

[Read more: Matzelevich’s OT goal beats Michigan State, sends Maryland soccer to Big Ten tourney semis]

The high-caliber saves Sunday weren’t ones that St. Clair has regularly made in games this season. His 3.5 saves per game ranks 102nd out of 152 keepers. He had two matches this season where he didn’t make a single save.

The strength of Maryland’s team defense has largely prevented opponents for getting off great looks. Less than half the shots the Terps defend wind up on goal, and most of those are routine stops.

But throughout practices, St. Clair gives his team reminders of the acrobatic saves he’s capable of. So it came to nobody’s surprise that he was prepared to make a pair of diving saves in the biggest game of the year.

[Read more: This year, Maryland men’s soccer enters the postseason with momentum]

Just moments after St. Clair’s first difficult save of the game, Michigan State threatened again in the 59th minute on a cross into the box. Spartans midfielder Michael Miller’s volley split the legs of Terps defender Matt Di Rosa, bounced twice and continued on its path toward the bottom left-hand corner of the net. St. Clair dove from the other side of his net and parried the ball away from danger.

Mutatu and Miller’s shots easily could’ve put the Spartans up 2-0, but instead the game remained deadlocked.

“He’s phenomenal between his communication, his distribution, his pure shot-stopping,” forward Eric Matzelevich said. “He came up huge this game, and I think the team is forever grateful for that.”

Entering overtime with three saves, St. Clair had to make two more in the extra period that Matzelevich ended after eight minutes. Two minutes after St. Clair’s final save, the finishing touch on his eight shutout of the season, the Terps finally broke through to advance to the conference tournament semifinals.

Michigan State goalie Jimmy Hague made his own diving save when forward Vinicius Lansade ripped a shot from well outside the box. Hague didn’t collect the rebound, though, and Matzelevich smashed it into the back of the net for the golden goal.

If any of St. Clair’s five saves weren’t made, the Spartans could have cemented their own 1-0 win at home to advance in the tournament and potentially ended Maryland’s season with a resume that wouldn’t earn it a place in the NCAA tournament.

Instead, St. Clair made the saves necessary to give his attack enough time to crack the Spartans defense. That, Coach Sasho Cirovski said, is the sign of a great goalkeeper, and is what sent the Terps to their fourth Big Ten semifinal in their first five years in the conference.

“You need him to either keep you in a game or help you win the game,” Cirovski said. “He helped win us a game.”