Dave Brown hasn’t scored a goal this season, but his parents should be credited with an assist for the Northwestern soccer team’s recent success.
Following Thursday’s loss to Penn State, the team descended upon Brown’s suburban Philadelphia home, where mom and dad served Philly cheesesteaks and chicken parmesan to a group of nearly 30 people.
That feast paid off Sunday, when the well-fed Wildcats fought for a 2-1 victory over Duke (2-8-1) — a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2002. NU (4-3-4) has won four of six games.
“We gave a big thank you to their parents — it was good fun” freshman Daniel Chille said. But I’m not sure if the cheesesteaks really did it.”
While the spread may have contributed to Sunday’s win, it’s more likely that NU’s offensive assault helped the Cats climb above the .500 mark.
NU scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute when freshman Will Nicholas took a corner kick from Gerardo Alvarez and headed it just past the Blue Devil’s goal keeper.
“I think I’m on a goal-scoring streak,” said Nicholas, who netted NU’s only goal against the Nittany Lions.
Then, nearly 11 minutes later, the Cats struck again on a goal by freshman Daniel Chille, giving the team a 2-0 advantage.
“It was a very dangerous lead, because it’s not like 5-0 and you have the game won” assistant coach Erik Ronning said. “If we score the next goal, the game is over. But if they score the next goal, it’s a game again.”
Duke did score next, cutting NU’s lead in half with a goal in the 66th minute. But NU’s defense shut down the Blue Devils the rest of the way.
Sunday’s win marked the first career Division I victory for Ronning, who led the team in head coach Tim Lenahan’s absence. Lenahan did not travel with the team because of a family emergency.
“We wanted to make Coach Lenahan proud,” Ronning said. “He cares so much about these guys and exerts so much effort in making them a better team. The guys realize that.”
Although he has played at NU for less than a season, Chile echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“It’s always good to score and I’m dedicating it to my coach,” Chille said. “He couldn’t be there with us today and I think our team gave it the extra effort to win for him.”
With eight regular-season matches remaining, the Cats are halfway to their 2002 win total. Senior captain Jeremy Cook has already seen an improvement in the attitude of his team.
“The first few seasons I was here it was rough,” he said. “We’re above .500 right now and that was my main goal for this season.”
While Sunday’s win was impressive for a team that finished 1-13-3 just two years ago, there wasn’t much time for celebrating.
“Right now, we’re just sort of bickering about what to eat,” Nicholas said from the team bus. “Everyone is sort of tired.”
