After their game Wednesday night, the men’s soccer players were ready to get on the bus and go home.

It wasn’t that they were eager to get away from the field. They just wanted to watch the baseball game.

The Red Sox-Yankees battle was a priority because the game they’d just won against Loyola wasn’t.

The Wildcats (9-3-2, 1-1-1 Big Ten) left the field with a 2-1 victory, but it was against a non-conference team that is 2-12-1.

And it was right after the biggest game in the program’s recent history.

The Cats picked up their first Big Ten win Sunday when they upset defending national champion Indiana and knocked the Hoosiers down five spots from No. 3 in the national rankings.

The Cats played their best of the season against the Hoosiers, and they were sure to let down a bit after that, coach Tim Lenahan said.

“It would be impossible to be playing where we were Sunday, ” Lenahan said. “Sometimes you want to play great, and sometimes you just want to get in and get out with a win.”

The game started with a fluke goal from Loyola just two minutes into the match. Loyola’s Joe Nierzwicki was left open and slipped a shot past Northwestern goaltender Justin Pines.

It was the first goal Pines had allowed in more than 155 minutes of play. Pines was honored as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his shutout against the Hoosiers this week. He also was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week.

NU held on for the rest of the half and had a few good chances toward the end, including a scramble in front of the net at the five-minute mark.

But the Cats always seem to come out stronger after halftime.

“They are just not the same as Indiana, so you have to pick yourself up,” junior Kevin Earnest said. “We felt that sense of urgency.”

The Cats responded less than two minutes into the second half, when Brad Napper sent a header into the left side of the net off an assist from Eric Brin.

Loyola finished the game with 18 fouls, doubling NU’s tally of nine.

The Ramblers’ small field often leads to more aggressive play.

The already-physical game turned ugly when Loyola midfielder Lee Zarzecki picked up a red card for a smack to the head of Earnest, who had kicked Zarzecki’s legs.

The two had exchanged words and shoves earlier, but Earnest got the better end of the deal when he found the net in the 72nd minute. Jaro Pylypczak assisted on the play.

“We worked pretty hard to come back,” Pines said. “The big thing was not to tell ourselves that we beat Indiana, but ‘We can beat Loyola.'”

Reach Courtney McCarty at [email protected].

NU 2

Loyola 1