The road trip from hell turned out to be quite alright for Northwestern.
The Wildcats’ cross-country excursion began Friday in Los Angeles with a 2-0 shutout of Loyola Marymount (5-5-4). After a day of traveling from California to New Jersey, NU (8-4-2) ended the trip with a 1-1 tie Sunday against Princeton (3-6-3).
With an NCAA tournament bid hanging in the balance, the Cats were satisfied with the results.
“All things considered, the flights and all the traveling, I’m pretty happy going 1-0-1 for the weekend,” said senior midfielder Jaro Pylypczak, who played all 210 minutes over the two games.
Since a 4-1 loss to Penn State on Oct. 7, the Cats have not lost a match, picking up two wins and two ties.
But for 75 minutes on Sunday, it looked like the undefeated streak was in jeopardy against Princeton.
The Tigers, who tied Harvard 1-1 in two overtimes just the day before, came out firing at the start.
Princeton’s early pressure paid off as it put a goal on the board in the ninth minute. Junior midfielder Jame Wunsch scored on a header off a corner kick from sophomore forward Kyle McHugh to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.
“We didn’t expect them to come out with that much energy,” Pylypczak said. “Supposedly they had a game the day before, but I still don’t believe it. They played with so much energy and really caught us on our heels early in the game.”
Princeton clung to the one-goal lead for the rest of the first half, but after the break, NU took control on the offensive end, outshooting Princeton 8-4 in the second half.
In the 76th minute, NU broke through to even the score.
Junior midfielder Gerardo Alvarez notched his third goal of the season on a free kick from the top of the box, beating Princeton goalkeeper Bobby Guelich.
“In the second half, we threw everything at them to try and get a goal,” said Alvarez, who has scored a goal in three of the last five games. “After the first one, we were really on them for the rest of the game, but we couldn’t finish a second one.”
In Friday’s game against Loyola Marymount, the Cats utilized their defense and a strong counterattack to hold off the Lions.
“They probably had 80 percent of the possession,” Pylypczak said. “They tired us out, and we had to defend. They knocked it around a lot, but they were never really dangerous. And we finished our chances when we had them.”
Junior forward Brad North and senior midfielder Kevin Earnest each picked up a goal for the Cats, and freshman goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal earned his third career shutout.
With three games left to play in the regular season, NU finds itself right in the middle of the NCAA tournament picture.
Alvarez said the Cats are confident and understand what they want to accomplish before the postseason.
“Everyone knows we need to win,” Alvarez said. “We are all on the same page. There is definitely a sense of urgency, but we don’t feel pressured or panicked. We just have to go out and get some wins.”
NU coach Tim Lenahan could not be reached for comment.
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
