Northwestern coach Tim Lenahan likes to use a boxing metaphor to define his team’s resolve this year. All season he has praised his team for “getting up off the mat and responding.”
Ohio State (9-6-2, 2-2-1) dealt the Wildcats (9-5-2, 1-3-1) a heavy blow Friday with a 2-1 win in Columbus, Ohio. But as it has done for the past two months, NU answered the bell.
Clinging to hopes of getting an NCAA tournament bid, the Cats used a late goal from senior midfielder Kevin Earnest to overcome Butler 2-1 on Sunday in Indianapolis.
“We didn’t let a loss affect us (Sunday),” Lenahan said. “I give a lot of credit to our guys. They came out fighting and showed a lot of resolve. Things can snowball, but we haven’t let a losing streak occur.”
With just over a minute in the game against Butler (9-9-0), Alvarez sent a ball past the Bulldogs defenders and found Earnest streaking down the right side. Earnest beat Butler goalkeeper Frank Peabody for the game winner.
“In the last five minutes, we had a lot of chances,” Earnest said. “So it was a pretty big relief to get that goal. And after that, we knew we were getting out of there with a win.”
The goal was Earnest’s third of the season and his second game winner. Alvarez’s assist was his third of the season and 19th of his career, putting him one behind Jonathan Hall and teammate David Roth on NU’s career list.
The Cats jumped out to an early lead Sunday in the ninth minute on junior forward Brad North’s eighth goal of the season.
The Bulldogs responded early in the second half. Butler’s Scott Olsen tied the game at one on a free kick in the 59th minute.
“The win was huge,” Earnest said. “If we didn’t get a result, there would have been a ton of pressure on us.”
In Friday’s game against the Buckeyes, Lenahan said his team came out flat and was lucky to be tied after the first half.
And 13 minutes into the second half, Ohio State got on the board on a goal from midfielder Geoff Marsh.
NU responded in the 70th minute as junior midfielder John Carsltedt notched his third goal of the season on a rebound from Alvarez’s shot.
But the tie lasted only two minutes. The Buckeyes’ Ryan Kustos converted a header on a set piece for the game winner.
The loss to Ohio State dropped NU into sixth place in the Big Ten with one conference game remaining.
After going 1-1 over the weekend, the NCAA tournament picture hasn’t become any clearer for the Cats.
Lenahan said NU will “probably have to win a couple more games” to get a bid to the national championships.
After playing on the road for five of their last seven games, the Cats are home for their last regular season game next Sunday against Wisconsin and host the Big Ten tournament Nov. 10-13. The Cats are undefeated (5-0-1) in Evanston this season.
“I know it sounds a bit cliched, but we’re taking one game at a time,” Lenahan said. “We know where we are at. We have to play our best here down the stretch.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
