The opportunity was there.
With Northwestern down one goal with 15 minutes left, Wildcats junior midfielder Daniel Chille took the rebound of his own shot and had the Ohio State goalkeeper beat.
But a Buckeyes defender deflected the shot wide.
Chille walked away with his head in his hands as NU’s best chance for the equalizer sailed out of bounds.
Ohio State held off the second half offensive charge, as the Buckeyes edged the Cats 1-0 on Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
“They got their one goal, and we didn’t get ours,” Lenahan said. “We challenged ourselves at halftime a little bit to put everything on the table.”
The Cats answered their coach’s request and dominated the second half offensively.
NU possessed the ball in the Ohio State half of the field for most of the final 45 minutes. The Cats outshot the Buckeyes 8-1 in the last half.
“Northwestern’s attackers are very dangerous,” Ohio State John Bluem said. “We felt like as the game wore on that we were in trouble if Northwestern scored.”
Every time NU had a chance on offense, the Ohio State defense had an answer. The size of the Ohio State defense posed a problem for NU.
“We’re very service oriented, and they have a lot of big people in the back,” Lenahan said. “It made it difficult for us for our matchups.”
Lenahan made some changes to his lineup, moving senior defender Dave Vargas to a more offensive role from his left back position.
Lenahan said he wanted to bring Vargas’ “energy” to the middle of the field.
After Ohio State’s goal, Lenahan shifted Vargas from a midfield position to the left side to “balance the attack.”
Although it doesn’t show statistically, Vargas provided a spark for the Cats, generating scoring chances from both positions.
“Dave was great,” Lenahan said. “I told him at halftime, ‘I wish I had two of you.’ He played the best game of his career in his last game.”
The lone goal came in the 31st minute for the Buckeyes. Senior forward Kevin Nugent took a shot from 10 yards out that was redirected before getting past NU goalkeeper Will Briley. Sophomore forward Xavier Balc picked up the assist.
With the loss, Lenahan said the “bubble probably burst” for the Cats’ NCAA tournament chances.
Before last Sunday’s game with Wisconsin, Lenahan said NU probably needed a couple of wins to get into the tournament. The Cats fell 2-1 at home against Wisconsin
The NCAA will select the 48-team field for the NCAA tournament on Monday.
“Knowing it could possibly be our last game, we all wanted to play our best, and I think we did,” Vargas said. “Unfortunately, it was a loss. But I’m proud of how we played.”
After the game, senior Brad Napper and junior Brad North were named First-Team All-Big Ten selections. Junior David Roth earned a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection.
Ohio State advances to Friday’s semifinals where it will face Indiana, which beat Wisconsin 2-0 on Thursday.
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
