Every Big Ten soccer team’s goal at the beginning of the season is to make the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes were no different; the difference was they knew they were worthy of a spot, and they worked hard all season to prove it.

Wednesday night, they proved it and lengthened their season by at least a game.

Iowa’s season was officially extended after Minnesota won a 1-0 double-overtime thriller to kick Nebraska behind Iowa.

Now, for the first time since 2014, the Hawkeyes are back in the tourney.

Iowa’s game Wednesday finished a while before the Nebraska-Minnesota game got to overtime, making it a long, tantalizing wait for Iowa.

Senior Karly Stuenkel, a freshman on the last Big Ten Tournament team, remembers finding out the good news.

“Some of us were pretty relaxed, and others were extremely nervous,” she said. “I sat on the locker room floor, refreshing Twitter constantly. I kept thinking about how my career at Iowa can’t be done yet. I was upset, and it was hard to be positive when Nebraska and Minnesota were in double overtime. I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous.

“When I walked away from my phone, my teammate Kaleigh Haus looked at me and said, ‘Minnesota just won.’ I couldn’t believe it. We all started yelling and cheering. I couldn’t believe it at first. I was overcome with happiness because our season has just been extended.”

RELATED: Iowa soccer heads to Big Ten Tourney

Head coach Dave DiIanni had his own experience.

“You could hear the celebration echo through the building,” DiIanni said. “It was a special moment, especially for these seniors.”

Now, the focus for the Hawkeyes is trying to make their special moment turn into a special few weeks as they turn their attention to the Big Ten regular-season champions and the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Ohio State.

Earlier this year, Ohio State beat the Hawkeyes at the Iowa Soccer Complex, 2-0. However, the Hawkeyes think they can play better this time around.

“I think playing Ohio State earlier is a good opportunity for us to understand what we are facing,” DiIanni said. “We aren’t going to be content on just getting invited into the tournament. We want to make a run.”

Even though Ohio State should be a tough opponent, the Hawkeyes are certainly not long shots to win the game.

They played Ohio State more than a month ago, and in the month since, the Hawkeyes have played numerous tough Big Ten opponents, which has helped them grow.

It should be a tougher Iowa team that arrives in Columbus, Ohio, for the game at 4 p.m. on Oct. 29 than the one the Buckeyes faced earlier in the year.

Iowa may be the No. 8 seed this year, but it has made a run as a low seed before. In 2013, the Hawkeyes entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed and ended up losing in the championship game.

They hope they can have a similar run in this year’s tourney. Maybe this team can win that final game.